Storm Restoration 7am update

Last night's storm knocked out power to approximately 64,000 customers. MLGW has restored power to about 20,000 of those customers as of 7 a.m. this morning. Our crews will continue to work around the clock until all power has been restored. We will not have an estimate of full restoration until later this morning, but like the April 4 storm, customers should be prepared to be without power for several days, especially if they are in the heaviest damaged areas. MLGW has a full complement of crews in the field working this morning. We have also requested 20 out-of-town crews to assist with restoration efforts.

While very little of Shelby County escaped damage, the heaviest hit areas appear to be in areas of Raleigh, Frayser, Arlington, Lakeland, and along the Sam Cooper corridor. We are seeing similar damages to the April 4 storm, with downed trees, limbs, power lines and poles being reported.

Customers with outages should call our outage hotline at 544-6500. Downed power lines can be reported on MLGW's 24-hour emergency number at 528-4465. Downed lines should be avoided, as they can carry dangerous levels of electric currents.

We'll have more details after an 8 a.m. status meeting.