MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis area is expecting strong winds and rain Thursday, and this means we could be in store for more power outages.
MLGW leaders said they are preparing for any outages that may occur.
The biggest concern right now for MLGW is high winds and hanging limbs that are already weak from the ice storm.
MLGW is still recovering and learning from the recent storm that left more than 200,000 people without power for days. Having another storm knocking power out for thousands of families again could be a big problem for the utility.
MLGW is trying to rebuild trust with the community and fix all the issues that came up during the ice storm, like its outage alert system.
Nick Newman with MLGW said leaders will be heading to a meeting later Wednesday with its crisis management team to discuss a plan ahead of Thursday’s storm.
“Our crews will be here. We have 20 in-house overhead crews along with five contract crews that will be here. We got a meeting later today to evaluate if we want to bring in other contract crews and have them ready to go,” said Newman.
Newman said they don't have an estimate on how many outages could be reported, but they don't expect it to be anywhere near the number from the recent storm.
He also said people do not have to worry about getting false texts from MLGW about their outages because that feature has been disabled.
Important MLGW contact information for customers:
- Outage Reporting: 901-544-6500
- Emergency: 901-528-4465
- Customer Care Center: 901-544-MLGW (6549)