No major damage in Miss-Lou storms

Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 11, 2000

Friday evening’s severe thunderstorms left up to 6,300 Miss-Lou customers without electricity and more than 3,000 without cable, some until Saturday morning.

Adams County got about 2 1/4 inches of rain between 5 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday. Wind gusts up to 32 miles per hour and up to quarter-sized hail were spotted. But no tornadoes, major flooding, or injuries were reported, said George Souderes, Adams County civil defense director.

The worst property damage was near Jonesville, La., where the roofs of four houses were blown away and windows were shattered, said A.C. Murray, Catahoula Parish’s Red Cross director. &uot;But there weren’t any injuries,&uot;&160;Murray said. &uot;We were lucky.&uot;

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Electric companies with major power outages included:

Southwest Mississippi Electric Power Association. Up to 1,000 customers in Adams County were without power until 1 a.m. Saturday due to fallen trees and limbs and lightning damage. At its height, 6,000 customers were without power in the several counties the association covers.

As of 2 p.m. Saturday, about 120 customers in the areas of Church Hill and Bates, Rice and Tate roads were still without power but were expected to have power restored by 4 p.m., said Manager Percy McCaa.

Concordia Electric Cooperative. About 5,000 customers of Concordia Electric, whose area covers Catahoula and some of Concordia parishes, were without power until 11 p.m. Friday, said Manager Billy Harris.

Entergy Power to about 200 to 300 customers in Natchez, mostly in the Melrose area, was restored by 1 a.m. Saturday. The Gloster area, however, was without power until about 7 a.m., said Customer Service Manager Forest Persons.

In all, 3,000 to 4,000 Cable One customers in the Miss-Lou were without service following the storm due to power outages and line damage. Service to customers along U.S. 61 North was restored Friday night. But customers around Auburn Avenue, Homochitto Street and Lower Woodville Road did not have service until 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday because a large tree fell on utility lines on Auburn Avenue, said Service Technician George Minor.

The Miss-Lou should see sunshine and highs in the 60s today and clear skies and lows in the mid-30s tonight, according to the National Weather Service. Skies will turn partly cloudy Monday and increasingly cloudy Monday night, with highs in the mid-60s and lows in the low 40s.

The next significant chance of rain will be on Tuesday, said forecaster Clay Morgan. On Tuesday and Wednesday, lows will be in the low 40s and highs will be from 65 to 70 degrees.