Strong Winds Hit West Tennessee, Leaving Damage and Power Outage

JACKSON, Tenn. - Heavy winds swept across west Tennessee Friday, leaving fallen trees and damaged power lines.

“We get our power from TVA, and it comes into Jackson at several different locations, and we get it there, transform it, and send it to your house.”

Jackson Energy Authority operations manager Leslie Jones explains how electricity is received from the Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest public power company in the country, and how this affects power restoration.

“Basically, so when we’re looking at storm restoration, the first thing we look at are we still being served by TVA still, ‘Are their lines down?’ if not… if not then we look at our transmissions system and our distribution system to restore power.”

Jones reports crews worked over the weekend, and most power has been restored.

She explains what causes power outage when strong winds hit.

“One of our biggest issues with wind is blowing trees over into the line, so most of the time it’s not necessarily the power lines causing it to come down, it's the trees falling into the power lines, pulling the lines and the poles down.”

In case of more inclement weather, she suggests visiting the Jackson Energy Authority website at jaxenergy.com, for safety and preparation tips.