By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The month of January 2023 closed out coated in ice.
Therefore the first few days of February were a visual Winter Wonderland, but under the icy conditions were dangerous roads, closures and power outages.
In Millington, Millington Municipal Schools announced the closing of Millington Intermediate, Millington Primary and Millington Central Middle High schools on Tuesday. Then as the weather passed through and left its presence felt, school remained out in Millington through Friday.
The same case up the road for Tipton County Schools. Students were excused from classes Tuesday-Friday with full-time employees reporting back on Friday.
The winter precipitation was forecasted days in advance and on Jan. 30, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division was preparing for severe weather as the National Weather Service is forecasting freezing rain and sleet in the Mid-South.
The icy mixture started to fall Tuesday and another round came the following day. MLGW service warned residents of power outages, tree damage and travel difficulties. Customers were asked to visit MLGW’s storm readiness guide for tips on preparing for weather emergencies: mlgw.com/images/content/files/pdf/StormPrep.pdf.
(February 1, 2023) MLGW crews are prepared to respond to the third and final round of freezing rain and ice that is forecast to arrive by 6 p.m. and last through Thursday at noon.
Crews are continuing to respond to outages caused by the effects of the first and second rounds of icing. Outages are dynamic and customers may experience outages because of falling tree limbs.
MLGW will continue working as quickly and safely as possible until service is restored to all customers impacted.
For future reference, customers should avoid contact with downed power lines—even if their home or area has experienced a loss of power as the lines could still be energized.
At one point more than 5,000 MLGW customers were without power. The reported outages were down to a few hundred by Saturday morning.
Important MLGW contact information for customers:
• Sign up for Text Alerts: mlgw.com/textalerts
• Outage Reporting: (901) 544-6500
• Emergency: 528-4465 (This number should be treated like 911. Gas leaks, electrical lines down.)
• Customer Care Center: (901) 544-MLGW (6549)
• Online Outage Center: mlgw.com/home/outagecenter
MLGW reminds customers to consider any downed wire to be dangerous and to not touch.
