All customers should have power back 'by the end of the day', MLGW says - FOX13 Memphis

All customers should have power back 'by the end of the day', MLGW says | News | fox13memphis.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Two days after another severe thunderstorm knocked out power to tens of thousands of Memphis, Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) customers, the company said they expect to complete their restoration efforts.

The 60 mph winds that blew through the Mid-South on Sunday, June 1 took down trees and power poles and left 35,000 MLGW customers in the dark.
WATCH: Millington Fire Dept. captures Sunday's storm

Some of those customers had just gotten their power restored after 75-80 winds ripped through the area a week prior on June 25, leaving over 122,000 MLGW customers without power.

Neighbors in Germantown are recovering after Sunday's storms knocked over dozens of trees onto roads and several homes, splitting one house in two. Several homes in the Woods Chapel Cove area off Dogwood had crews working Monday morning to remove large trees from their roofs.

MLGW said these storms combined to make the sixth most destructive event in the company's history.

“You don’t wanna move, you don’t wanna eat. We’re spending money left and right just trying to sustain life,” said Danielle Noce.

MLGW President and CEO Doug McGowan told FOX13 that all of the severe weather in the Mid-South, dating back to the ice storm of December 2022, has left the company continuously in restoration mode and has prevented MLGW from taking preemptive efforts.

When those efforts are able to get off the ground, McGowan said $1.2 billion will go towards tree trimming, replacing old infrastructure and installing a smart grid.

PHOTOS: Storm damage continues to pile up across the Mid-South

Many areas in the Mid-South are suffering damage after severe storms rolled through the area on July 2, 2023.

"The cycle of storm - restoration - repeat has slowed down the utility's infrastructure improvements, but it has not stopped them," MLGW said in a press release.

As of 10:30 am.. about 35 hours after the most recent severe thunderstorm blew through, 1,156 MLGW customers were still without power due to 85 outages.
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