Mississippi Power storm directors meet ahead of June 1 start of Atlantic hurricane season

Mississippi Power storm directors met last week at the company's Operations Center to review procedures and identify any areas that need to be shored up in preparation for the Atlantic hurricane season that begins on June 1.

While hurricane season runs through the end of November, storm season in South Mississippi is year-round as the storm team has responded to everything from tornadoes to severe thunderstorms that create damaging winds to ice storms.

“When a hurricane or extreme weather knocks out power in our service territory, that is when our customers need us the most,” said Tommy Murphy, vice president of Customer Service and Operations.

All employees at Mississippi Power have a storm role. Some are very different than their everyday positions.

“I firmly believe that no company responds to storms better than we do but we are continually looking for ways to get better in our response,” said Distribution General Manager Melvin Roland, the company’s new storm director. “This meeting allows us to go over every facet of our storm plans, to review key learnings from each area and identify any gaps we need to close. There was a lot of great discussion and feedback.”

Hurricane researchers have predicted an above-average hurricane season with 19 named storms, nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

“Regardless of how many are predicted, we know from experience it only takes one that could result in a multi-day restoration,” Roland said. “We also know from experience that even tropical storms can make landfall hundreds of miles away and still impact us. It is always important for us to remain weather aware and always ready to respond safely and efficiently for our customers.”

Now in its 97th year of operations, Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and affordable energy for nearly 191,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power recently was a recipient of the Community Partner Impact Award from the Center for Energy Workforce Development for its innovative and ongoing efforts to build a diverse workforce. 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 websites at mississippipower.com and mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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