Over 16K customers lose power in storm

Madison County continues to recover from a series of storms over the weekend and late last week that claimed the life of a Canton man and left about 16,000 without power, some for days.

A series of storms that battered the state were reported locally as early as Wednesday afternoon and proceeded through the weekend. 

The National Weather Service reported winds as high as 80 miles an hour and golf-ball-sized hail.

This follows a storm on the previous Saturday, June 10, that knocked down trees and left 2,000 people in Madison County without power.

“We were impacted by back-to-back storms in Madison County,” Entergy spokesman Sandy Powlett said. “At peak, we had approximately 16,000 without power in Madison County.”

The outages were reported throughout the county, Powlett said. By Tuesday, Entergy had whittled the number of those without power down to 100 customers, largely around Canton, she said.

Canton Police Chief Otha Brown reported Wednesday that all roads were clear in Canton. 

One death in Madison County related to the weather was reported when 67-year-old Wilbert Williams was fatally injured Friday morning when a tree fell on his carport while he was standing in it.

Downed trees, debris and power outages were reported throughout Madison County.

Ridgeland Public Works Director Alan Hart said cleanup crews worked all day on Friday.

“Our crews worked well into the evening on Friday beginning at daybreak after the storms cleared the area,” Hart said.  

He said the last blocked road was cleared on Monday.

Ridgeland Mayor Gene F. McGee said a number of Ridgeland departments worked tirelessly on the cleanup efforts.

“It’s been a harsh few days as severe storms have swept through so many areas in the southern portion of the U.S. I’m grateful for our dedicated city employees, crews, Recreation and Parks, and Ridgeland’s Police and Fire Departments for working so diligently during this time,” McGee stated.

Hart said Public Works crews worked closely with Entergy to clear debris on power lines.

“Our Public Works crews initially worked to remove trees that were blocking roads where there were no power lines tangled in the downed vegetation,” Hart said. “Once lines were verified as deactivated by Entergy, we worked quickly to remove trees and limbs from the right-of-way of the remaining streets.” 

The city was hit with another round of weather late Saturday, Hart said. Crews worked during the late evening hours assessing and removing additional trees.  

“We are now making our way around the city picking up all the piles of limbs,” Hart said on Tuesday. “I thought it was great how all the city departments worked together along with many residents. We appreciate the continued patience while we make our rounds to pick up all the extra limb debris that is being brought to the curb by homeowners.”  

Hart noted any contractor that works to remove trees and limb debris in the City of Ridgeland is required to remove the vegetative debris from the property and legally dispose of it.

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler said large swaths of town lost power on Friday with the last house coming back online Monday. She said a number of large subdivisions in north Madison were out of power for almost two and. a half days, coming back online as late as Sunday evening.

Hawkins-Butler said the roadways are clear, although the city still has a good bit of work to do as contractors are working their way into the subdivisions this week picking up debris.

“We are working as hard and as fast as we can to put everything back together again,” she said.

In Gluckstadt, Mayor Walter Morrison said all roads are clear. Major blockages were reported on Gluckstadt Road just east of Bozeman Road, Clarkdell Road and Catlett Road as well as Highway 51 just south of the Chevron.