MEMPHIS, Tenn. — All MLGW customers should have their power back on by Saturday, the utility says. That’s more than a week after an ice storm devastated power lines across Shelby County.
The utility said everyone who “can receive power” will have it by 11:59 p.m. Friday night. But it said that for a few customers, the wait might stretch into Saturday.
As of 10 a.m. Thursday, a little less than 23,000 people were still without power — just a little over 5% of MLGW customers, according to the utility’s outage map.
Patience is wearing thin for that 5 percent. Desperation has set in for residents like Willie Walker from Westwood.
“Just pathetic and then they go, go up on our utilities already and we not getting no kind of service,” he said. “We have not seen any trucks drive through this neighborhood, I haven’t, and nobody talk to for the last eight days.”
Ninety contract crews are in Memphis from Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia to assist with repairs. MLGW urged anyone who sees a downed power line to call (901) 528-4465. Leaving porch lights on and gates unlocked is also helpful to crews, they said.
The county is setting up three charging stations for residents who still don’t have power. They are:
- Shelby County EMEA – 1075 Mullins Station, Building C parking lot, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library – 3030 Poplar Ave., 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Whitehaven Library – 4120 Millbranch, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Current recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) who lost food during
power outages caused by the ice storm can request replacement benefits. Send a signed affidavit of your needs one of the following ways:
- Online at www.tn.gov/humanservices/for-families/tdhs-disaster-emergency-assistance.html
- Calling 866-311-4287
- Printing a copy of the affidavit, signing it, and leaving it in the dropbox of any local DHS
office.
A Crisis Clean Up hotline has been set up to help anyone whose home was damaged in the February 4 ice storm. Customers should call (901) 430-0995 for immediate assistance with fallen trees that need to be cut, and other damage around the home. The Crisis Clean Up hotline is active until February 25, 2022.
Throughout the restoration process, MLGW has said they don’t target a specific neighborhood first, but did admit they generally turn power on those parts of town where the most customers are impacted.
It’s a process that doesn’t sit right with those like Damekiel Grant in the Westwood community.
“This is a poor section of town; it’s a food desert and people don’t have transportation. There are no grocery stores around here, there’s no banks. You can’t get money; you can’t get food and that makes it much more difficult,” Grant said.
MLGW services 438,000 customers in Memphis and Shelby County. You can view their outage map here.
At its peak just after last Thursday’s storm, there were 3,238 outages reported affecting124,479 customers, or about 30% of MLGW customers. That meant almost 1 in 3 MLGW customers were without power.
