Winter's bite

A Thursday morning ice storm hit the northwest corner of Mississippi, disrupting power for many Northcentral Electric Cooperative customers.

Members began reporting outages and difficulty getting calls through at 6:20 a.m. February 2 due to high call volume, according to Northcentral’s Facebook page.

First reports from Northcentral were posted at 9:57 a.m. With 50 outages affecting 2,776 members. A customer at that time reported outages at Braybourne and at Highway 302 and Center Hill.

The majority of the outages were located in DeSoto County where accumulation of ice on trees was worse.

Throughout the day members reported outages at Malone and Stateline Road, Dove Ridge subdivision in Olive Branch, Pleasant Hill Substation (700 members restored), the Byhalia Substation and more.

By 3 p.m. Northcentral reported lines down in 20 locations and six broken poles in its service area.

The peak outage was reported at mid-afternoon Thursday, when 7,700 members were without power and 111 outages reported.

In Marshall County, Northcentral members were reporting outages on Rayford Road off Strickland Road in Warsaw.

Fresh tree-trimming crews

were brought in at 6 a.m. Friday when a member reported power outage on Polk Lane and Whispering Pines and Dogwood Konce Circle.

Northcentral reported at 4:30 a.m. Friday that 4-County Electric Power out of Columbus, Pontotoc Electric Power Association and MDR Powerline Construction in Olive Branch had come to assist.

Some customers at 309 and Fields Road reported power out for 24 hours.

Customers at Meadow Brook and Goodman Road were also out Friday morning.

With the extra help, outages were repaired throughout the day Friday until 2 p.m. When only 60 outages remained affecting 512 members. Northcentral assured members they would be restored within an hour.

Some of the last members restored in Marshall County lived at Marcon Farms who were out 28 hours and counting. Customers at Hacks Cross and Rayford were still off after 24 hours.

All in all, members praised crews for their diligence during horrible working conditions. And employees thanked the community for providing food during the two-day ordeal.