MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) met its goal Wednesday night to get the number of customers without power in Memphis and Shelby County down to 25,000 or below.
At 10 p.m., there were 24,589 customers (homes and businesses) in the dark.
Utility leaders told Action News 5 it will be late Friday before the lights and heat are back on for most customers. Some smaller, more complicated outages may take all weekend to repair.
With that many customers out, and MLGW crews finding more damage, the head of the utility issued the warning to not go anywhere near downed power lines if you see them because they could still carry a deadly charge.
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Neighbors in the Glenview historic district near South Parkway and Lamar Avenue had no idea the line behind their homes for the last week was hot until a family pet found out the hard way.
“It’s a struggle,” said MLGW customer Barry Ford. “It’s like you’re camping inside.”
For Ford, the struggle’s been real for seven days now. Only half his house has power. Just one outlet works in the kitchen, so he and his wife Mary have gotten creative.
“When I want to use the microwave, I unplug the freezer and run an extension cord around the corner to the microwave or toaster oven because the stove doesn’t work,” Ford said. “I only plug in one thing at a time because I’m worried about overloading it and starting a fire.”
The problem? A power line fell behind his house when the ice storm hit last Thursday. It’s draped across his backyard and his next-door neighbor’s backyard.
“We heard the explosion, and we looked out, and we actually saw the transformer on fire, and then the line was on fire before it fell,” said Ford.
Ford said he and his neighbor both called MLGW to report the fallen line and were told every time that it was not an emergency.
“If you see lines down, please, please stay away from them,” was MLGW President J.T. Young’s message to everyone in Shelby County Wednesday. “We need to treat all downed lines as if they were live.”
Utility crews are making slow progress restoring power. Young said they’re discovering more damage every day. Downed lines still crisscross many parts of Memphis.
No one knew the line in Ford’s neighborhood was hot until neighbor Joshua Conley’s dog, Harper, came into contact with it and started to have a seizure.
“I ran over there and saw that she was stuck, and immediately pulled her out and breathed into her snout, thinking she was not breathing,” Conley told Action News 5.
Harper miraculously survived. Ford called Action News 5 for help getting a crew out to their location. Shortly after his interview, MLGW trucks pulled up late Wednesday night. Within an hour, Ford, Conley, and the rest of the neighbors had electricity again.
“This was a very scary situation with the power lines being down and active for a week,” Conley said.
“We just wanted some semblance of normalcy,” Ford said about the week-long wait for power restoration. “I understand emergencies have to be prioritized. We didn’t realize this was an emergency until the poor dog almost died from electrocution.”
MLGW said 90 contract crews are working with 19 local crews to restore power.
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