About 50,000 households and businesses in Memphis are starting the week without power. On Saturday, a severe “bow echo” thunderstorm struck the city, delivering damaging straight line winds up to 80 mph.
In a press conference Sunday, the President and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water, Doug McGowen, said the storm was the seventh most damaging in the utility’s history. At the peak, the utility said 140,000 customers were without power. McGowen said electricity will be restored to the vast majority of customers by Thursday evening.
McGowen drew a distinction between this situation and the massive winter storm that knocked out power for communities across the state earlier this year. He said meteorologists knew multiple days ahead of Winter Storm Fern that the system was likely to cause damage. This storm, on the other hand, accelerated quickly, and the utility had “no idea a storm of this magnitude was coming,” McGowen said.
Dozens of additional crews have come to Memphis to restore electricity and remove downed trees across the city.
Memphis has opened three community centers for residents to recharge their devices and get out of the heat. High temperatures are expected to reach the 90s this week, with heat indexes topping 100 degrees.
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