Restoring a Community After Severe Weather

Jackson, TN. (WNBJ)-

The strong winds that blew through Madison County and surrounding areas last night left behind destroyed power lines, littered debris, and many residents still without power. As you can see behind me traffic is backed up for miles as the Jackson Energy Authority continues to restore destroyed power lines on North Parkway.

The Jackson Energy Authority reported storms yesterday took out power for over 11,000 of their customers. There are over 20 utility poles leaning or down, and their priority today has been resetting mainline poles to restore power for residents. Steve Bowers (Jackson Energy Authority Communications Manager) stated, “the electricity and gas systems are monitored here, and there are alerts that are built into these systems. So, when the substations start opening and lines start going out then they know here. What we need from customers is individual ports on specific outages and houses.”

While many are experiencing power outages some residents are recovering from damage to their homes today. Ryan Stokes Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Property Damage Appraisal encourages residents to outline their insurance policies and capture any images of valuables and damages before and after severe weather hit. Ryan Stokes (Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Property Damage Appraisal) informed us, “so, prior to that damage occurring you’ll know what you have, and you’ll know what to look for in case damage does occur.”

The City of Jackson is still recovering from the storm damage, and the Jackson Energy Authority say’s they are being assisted by utility crews from Brownsville, Humboldt, and Lexington to get power back.

There are still over 2,000 residents without power tonight. The Jackson Energy Authority say’s they are working overtime to restore these outages.

Makayla Davis

mdavis@nbc39tv.com