Power back on as clean-up continues
By By Buddy Bynum / editor
September 20, 2004
Repair crews, some working 20-hour shifts in the wake of Hurricane Ivan's destructive push through East Mississippi last week, had restored power to virtually all customers by early today, officials said.
Mike Reich, director of marketing and communications for East Mississippi Electric Power Association, said about 25,000 customers were affected by the hurricane and only a few scattered outages were reported today.
Reich urged customers to check on relatives and friends who may have been out of town and on hunting camps or weekend retreats in rural areas. If the power is still off, EMEPA should be notified at 483-7361.
Eleven co-ops from around Mississippi about 360 people joined EMEPA crews to repair power poles, line breaks and other damages caused by high winds that whipped East Mississippi on Wednesday and Thursday.
Mississippi Power spokesman Kurt Brautigam said the vast majority of customers who lost power were back on line today. More than 70,000 customers were initially affected by the storm.
Damage in the Meridian division of Mississippi Power caused by Ivan's tropical storm-force winds was as bad as anyone in the company could remember, causing about 25,000 local outages. More than 100 trees were knocked down on lines and nearly 50 poles were snapped and had to be replaced.
Meanwhile, Meridian's Emergency Operations Center, which kept a close eye on Ivan during its most ferocious period and coordinated immediate recovery efforts, closed Sunday as clean-up efforts moved to other agencies.
Karen Blackwood, a spokesman for the city's Department of Homeland Security, said crews will be dispatched today from Jackson and Tupelo to assist with the clean-up.
Representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are also on the local scene helping assess damages.
FEMA asked residents who wish to report damages to call 1-800-621-3362. When calling, residents will need the following information to know the date of the disaster, their social security numbers, the address of the affected property, their gross income and any insurance information.
