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Friends and volunteers help pick up tree limbs and branches in the Waverly Subdivision following a sever thunderstorm that came through the area around 4 A.M. Thursday morning in Natchez. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

A fallen trees sits a warning for underground telephone lines, after a sever thunderstorm came through the area Thursday in Natchez. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

A tree is uprooted in Waverly subdivision after a sever thunderstorm came through Natchez early Thursday morning. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Tanner Wimberly, 14, assists in helping clean up Michelle Skates property after a sever thunderstorm came through the area around 4 A.M. Thursday morning in Natchez. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Trees are damaged in the Waverly subdivision following a sever thunderstorm that came through the area early Thursday morning in Natchez. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Trees are uprooted and damaged in Waverly subdivision after a sever thunderstorm came through Natchez early Thursday morning. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

A tree is bent in half after a sever thunderstorm came through Natchez early Thursday morning. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

Friends and volunteers help pick up tree limbs and branches in the Waverly Subdivision following a sever thunderstorm that came through the area around 4 A.M. Thursday morning in Natchez. (Nicole Hester | The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — A severe thunderstorm and a small animal knocked out power for more than 3,500 customers in Natchez and the surrounding region Thursday morning.

Entergy crews were busy Thursday restoring power for approximately 3,800 customers in Adams and Franklin County.

Entergy spokesperson Tim Runnels said most of the outages were caused by a squirrel or other small animal that found its way into the company’s north Natchez substation at approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The resulting outage affected approximately 3,000 customers. The areas most affected were located in and around the Morgantown area, Runnels said.

Power was restored for most customers by 10:15 a.m. Thursday Runnels said.

Other outages were reported in areas scattered across the region after a line of storms moved through the area early Thursday morning, Runnels said.

“Most of (the outages were) due to wind damage and limbs falling on power lines and breaking the cross arms on power poles,” Runnels said.

National Weather Service Senior Meteorologist Mike Edmonston said a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Concordia Parish, Catahoula Parish and Adams County at 3:37 a.m. Radar indicated a severe storm 10 miles northwest of Lake Lardo moving east at 55 mph, Edmonston said.

“The storms were moving pretty fast for summer storms,” Edmonston said.

Edmonston said the weather service received reports of downed trees in Concordia Parish, near Sicily Island, and reports of structural damage in and around Meadville.

Edmonston said the storms that moved across Southwest Mississippi most likely included heavy straight-line winds, but that he couldn’t rule out the possibility of a small tornado. No tornadoes from the storm had been reported, Edmonston said.

Adams County Fire Service Training Officer Darryl Smith said several trees were reported down in the area including on St. Catherine Street and on Penny Drive. A downed tree damaged one car on St. Catherine Street, Smith said.

As of Thursday afternoon, Smith said he had not received any reports of structural damage in the county.

Runnels said approximately 400 customers had their power knocked out in Meadville and surrounding areas. Because of rough terrain in Franklin County, Runnels said bulldozers had to be called in to help the effort.

As of Thursday afternoon, Runnels said crews were working to restore power to the remaining areas by midnight Thursday.

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