Bank of Holly Springs
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Photo by Barry Burleson
The weekend storm caused damage in historic Hill Crest Cemetery in Holly Springs, including this tree which fell on the Mississippi Press Association yellow fever memorial.

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Photo by Debayo Moyo
This huge tree was downed on Rust Avenue, in front of the college, by the stout winds Saturday about midnight.

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Photo by Barry Burleson
This tree, on the grounds of historic Montrose in Holly Springs, was toppled by the storm Saturday night.

Winds down trees, knock out power

Thunderstorms packing strong winds hit the area hard Saturday night, disrupting power to thousands of customers in the North­central Electric Power Association and Holly Springs Utility Department service areas.

The worst hit areas were north of Highway 302, in the areas of Mt. Pleasant, and Ashland.

A number of customers were still without electricity Tuesday.

A total of 5,508 customers lost electricity in the HSUD service area following the storm and as of Tuesday morning, about 1,600 customers were still without power. Outages were scattered throughout rural areas, according to mayor Kelvin Buck.

Northcentral lost power to 26 percent of its membership, according to Michael Bellipanni, director of marketing and business development.

And Enhanced 911 was also affected by a cut AT&T line, according to Tracey Reed, director of  911 in Marshall County.

The second time in May, strong storms moved through the Memphis, Tenn., area Saturday night. It was reported as the third largest power outage in Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) history with more than 188,000 customers without power due to fallen large tree limbs and uprooted trees that downed power lines. Besides putting customers in the dark, homes, cars, fences and anything in the path of falling trees were damaged, according to a press release from the Better Business Bureau.

In the HSUD service area, 30 power poles were replaced, restoring electricity to many rural areas. Scattered outages remained early this week in the Mt. Pleasant and Ashland areas, and some damage to the system took place in the Laws Hill and Potts Camp areas, according to George Humphreys with HSUD.

Outages occurred in rural areas in Mt. Pleasant, Ashland, and along Highway 72, where poles and lines were down, Humphreys said. Kirkwood was thrown into the dark when a fuse blew. Outages were also reported on Isom Chapel Road and Liles Road where poles and wires were down in the Highway 311 area and in Michigan City, Buck said.

Areas still out due to storm on the HSUD system Tuesday, according to Sharon Crane with HSUD,  included:

• Cothern Road on Highway 311
• Wildcat Bottom Road and Cove
• Hogan Road
• Isom Chapel Road
• Old Highway 72 near Caanan
• Clear Creek Road
• Melissa Lane
• Hudsonville Road
• and Roberts Chapel Road.

Northcentral

Areas most affected in the Northcentral system were north of Highway 302 and west of Hacks Cross, Bellipanni said.

“Damage to TVA transmission infrastructure in west Tennessee cut power to two Northcentral substations around midnight, Saturday,” Bellipanni said. “There were also outages on three circuits from other substations. A total of 7,826 customers were without power at midnight – roughly 26 percent of our total membership.”

Northcentral restored electricity to over 4,100 members by 3 a.m. Sunday. TVA replaced a damaged utility pole and their issues were resolved fairly soon.

The most difficult outages included about 1,000 customers who had to wait until 9 a.m. Sunday due to the lengthy time it took to fix the trouble, Bellepanni said. By 1:30 p.m. Sunday about 700 members remained in the dark.

All nine Northcentral crews were on duty working to restore power, five of which worked over the midnight hours. Northcentral called in contractor crews to assist with the restoration of service.

911

E-911 service centers were also affected by the Saturday night storms, which caused a cut in AT&T communication lines, according to Reed. Once the 911 lines were down from Holly Springs all the way to Starkville, AT&T rolled over all 911 calls to the Marshall County 911 cell phone, she said.

The use of the alternate system continued until about 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Reed said.

“Our tech told us it was not just us,” she said. “A line got cut that affected different centers from here to Starkville. We also lost power and used a backup generator.”

Reed said lots of people called 911 to report power outages during the weekend. Reed estimated the storm’s affect on 911 was in the top 10 of those she has seen at 911.

County cleanup

County administrator Larry Hall said there was quite a bit of cleanup on the north end of the county, beginning Saturday night with the first call coming in around 11.

More strong winds continued to take down trees in the early morning hours Sunday, he said, especially in the Cayce and Barton area. Some trees were down on Highway 309 South on Jamison Road close to Highway 4 Monday.

“It was an all-night event Saturday night (into Sunday morning) in Mt. Pleasant, Cayce and north of Coldwater Bottom,” Hall said. “Utility poles were down and huge trees were uprooted.”

There were also trees and limbs dropped in the Bethlehem area.

Interestingly, many old trees that were blown down had honey bee hives in their hollows, Hall said.

It was fortunate the way the storm timed itself to take place on a holiday weekend where people were already home, Hall said.

Connectivity at cell phone towers was sporadic during the storm and its aftermath, he said.

Hugh Hollowell, emergency management director for the county, said he received reports of three houses with trees through the roof. There were no injuries, he said.

“When that first front came through, we went from hardly any wind to laying trees over,” Hollowell said.

Afterthought

Although it is sometimes hard to get a call to HSUD during a power outage of this magnitude, some people volunteered to take calls, according to Clay Moore, public works director.

Besides himself, aldermen Tim Liddy and Christy Owens came in to answer calls, and Carol Yeager, with HSUD, also was available most of the time to take calls, Moore said.

Holly Springs South Reporter

P.O. Box 278
Holly Springs, MS 38635
PH: (662) 252-4261
FAX: (662) 252-3388
www.southreporter.com