Crews working on restoration after Easter Sunday tornadoes

Mississippi Power crews and contractors are working today to restore service to about 1,500 customers after a pair of long-track tornadoes left a trail of damage and outages through the Northern Division.

“We worked safely through the night and made good progress in some difficult conditions,” said Shared Services Manager Scott Cashwell. “Crews had to shelter-in-place a couple of times when the weather got bad. There was a lot of debris and some areas were tough to access because roads were blocked with trees on them.

“We continue to be focused on safety and following the COVID-19 protocols in place to also protect the health of our team. Damage assessments are ongoing this morning and there will be a lot of tedious work to get the lights back on for these remaining customers.”

A storm team from the Coast Division was sent Monday morning to assist in Soso, the hardest-hit area in terms of damage to the company infrastructure. Initially, 60 poles were reported down in this area and that number is expected to increase as more damage assessments are completed.

Additional contract resources from the coast were also sent to assist with the restoration effort.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported Monday morning that the tornadoes caused  11 deaths and multiple injuries in the state.

Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for more than 188,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. With nearly 160 megawatts of approved solar energy capacity, Mississippi Power is the largest partner in providing renewable energy in the state of Mississippi. Visit our website at mississippipower.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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