Storm batters Natchez; more than 1,000 still without power in Natchez and Adams County

Published 10:43 am Friday, June 16, 2023

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NATCHEZ — At 10 a.m. Friday, about 665 Entergy customers in Natchez were without electric power.

A severe thunderstorm rolled through the area in the early morning hours, disrupting sleep, downing trees and limbs, and leaving numerous areas here without electric power.

“Just about everything below Jeff Davis Boulevard is out right now,” said Tim Runnels, who handles communication for Entergy.

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An area along old U.S. 84 and just east of U.S. 61 north of Natchez is also without power.

“We have about 83,000 out statewide right now,” Runnels said. “That’s an improvement. We did have more than 150,000 without power in Mississippi earlier this morning.

“It’s been a tough week. We have workers who have been working 16-hour days since Saturday. We thought we just about had everything cleaned up, then, this storm came through. This was a tough storm,” he said. “What we are doing this morning is trying to get our arms around everything. We have all hands on deck and are working as quickly as we can to get power restored.”

Entergy Mississippi provides power in Natchez down U.S. 61 south of Natchez through Woodhaven subdivision.

“We end right there at Cornerstone Church, what used to be Trinity School, and then there is a big gap that is serviced by Southwest Electric Power Association. We pick back up just this side of Woodville,” Runnels said.

Southwest Electric is reporting 420 Adams County residences and 628 Wilkinson County residences were without power at approximately 10:30 a.m.

Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft reported no outages in Vidalia this morning.

“We had just a few minor outages this morning, but right now, we have none,” he said.

He warned residents to be on the lookout for down power lines and to stay far away from them.

“We want residents to be careful. If you see a downed line, call us or call 911. Don’t try to drive through it. Don’t get near it and don’t touch it,” he said.