MEMPHIS, Tenn.– Thousands of Memphis Light Gas and Water customers still remain without power. Thursday will mark one week since many Memphians began braving the cold weather and living without essentials.
According to the MLGW outage map there are still around 35,000 customers without power. Those still without power say they just want some relief.
The sound of generators can be heard blaring along Hudson Street as some in the area go almost a week without power.
74-year-old Linda Cullum has lived in the Highland Heights area for almost 40 years. Right now, she is only using her generator for necessities.
“It’s been bad because I’m severely asthmatic and I cannot use my machines and my phones were out.. for not having power,” she said.
She is concerned about the charred power lines above her house.
“I’m afraid when they turn the power back on my house gone catch on fire like it did before.. and it burned out everything I owned then,” Cullum said.
Cullum said a portion of the street lost power last Thursday. She said when it was turned back on Saturday, it sparked a fire at a home two doors down before the power went back out again.
“They turned the electricity back on and the cable and the phone lines went down.. my pole caught on fire,” she said.
With heavy ice bringing down these dangling wires, she said she’s worried something else bad will happen.
“The phone company came out yesterday evening and put an emergency line up for me he told me there was a hot wire.. I can’t get a hold of light, gas and water to do anything about it,” Cullum said. “He could have touched that wire and could have killed him yesterday.”
Cullum said she’s been unable to get anyone on the phone from MLGW, but hopes crews return soon to fix the problem.
“They need to get this equipment fixed and get it safe so people won’t have damage to their home and lose their home completely,” she said.
MLGW says never go near a downed power line. If you need to report one call their 24-hour emergency line at 901-528-4465.
MLGW hopes everyone will have their power back by the end of the week. You can keep track of the numbers of outages in your area with MLGW’s outage map here.