Power outages affected five voting precincts and left 2,500 Entergy customers in south and east Natchez without electricity for up to three hours Tuesday morning after high winds blew a dead tree into a major transmission line.

Adams County crews had to set up an electric generator at the Palestine precinct. The Bellemont, Duncan Park and Oakland and Concord precincts also experienced outages, forcing workers to reset some voting machines by hand, said Larry Gardner, assistant circuit clerk.

The tree fell at about 9:45 a.m. Power was restored to Natchez Regional Medical Center and two nursing homes within 30 to 40 minutes.

Entergy restored power to businesses and residential customers before 1 p.m., said Customer Service Manager Forest Persons. Residential areas affected included the Fatherland and Montebello subdivisions.

When the tree fell near the Johns Manville site along St. Catherine Creek – after winds of up to 21 miles per hour – all but one of Entergy’s crew workers were already repairing a downed line in the Kingston area.

That line affected only oilfields and a handful of residents in the Kingston area, Persons said.

&uot;But that, along with where the tree fell and where the switches were located, was why it took longer than usual for us to get power back on (in town),&uot; he said. &uot;We appreciate the public’s patience.&uot;