Cable still out: Sunday storm left 1,200 without cable

By Adam Koob (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Thursday, May 7, 2009

NATCHEZ — While most Natchez and Adams County residents have had their electricity restored, it could be as late as Friday before cable and power are restored countywide.

CableOne Manager Bobby McCool said when Sunday’s storm blew into Adams County it left approximately 1,200 cable customers with no cable.

And while McCool said he hopes to have all the city and county’s customers receiving service today, it could be Friday before service is completely restored.

“We know it’s an inconvenience for people,” McCool said. “But it takes time.”

McCool said while crews were out assessing damage just after Sunday’s storm, much of the work CableOne needs to do is dependant on the work done by local power providers.

McCool said CableOne’s work crews must first wait for downed utility poles to be replace before cable can be restored.

Local electric providers estimated as many as 80 utility poles were damaged countywide in Sunday’s storm.

McCool said repairs are ongoing across the county and not concentrated in one area.

But in the coming days McCool’s work should be easier.

Entergy Customer Service Manager Stephen Caruthers said as of Tuesday night, less than a dozen Entergy customers were without power.

All of Entergy’s 30 downed utility poles have also been replaced, Caruthers said.

“It’s been like a normal day for us,” Caruthers said.

Southwest Mississippi Electric Power Association Public Relations Coordinator Azalea Knight said it could be Friday before all of the Southwest’s Power customers have power.

Knight said approximately 420 customers were still without power Wednesday.

“It’s countywide, and there’s a lot of work to do,” Knight said.

And Knight, like McCool, said she’s waiting on utility poles to be repaired before all electricity can be restored.

Knight said she did not how many poles in Adams County still need to be repaired.

But Knight said some of the poles in Adams County that need to be replaced were used to provide several services, like cable and power, and can take several hours to rebuild.

“It takes up to eight or nine hours to re-attach everything that was there,” she said.