With water levels creeping higher by the hour, the company decided to take six substations out of service as a safety measure and focus on protecting two that could be saved with levees—the Old Canton Road Substation serving northeast Jackson and the South Jefferson Street Substation serving the downtown area.
In a matter of seconds, the tornado demolished Entergy’s 115,000-volt Southwest Jackson Substation and severed six major transmission lines and numerous distribution lines, prompting crews to work around the clock until full service was restored.
After 1994, Entergy started transitioning to a more centralized approach to storm response that included leveraging resources across the company’s four-state area to accelerate service restoration.
A hundred years ago, Arkansas businessman Harvey Couch was making good on his vision to electrify the South when he incorporated The Mississippi Power and Light Company, the precursor of Entergy Mississippi. His new venture not only brought modern electric service to the Mississippi Delta—the heart of the state’s agricultural economy—but also unlocked future growth opportunities in a region rich with potential.
The devastating tornadoes that swept across Arkansas on March 31 left a profound impact on employees and customers, who came together to support each other after the storms.
We anticipate over 95% of customers without power will have it restored tonight. We sincerely appreciate our customers' patience as we work toward a complete and safe restoration.
The restoration process from last week’s tornadoes was temporarily delayed today by the most recent round of thunderstorms that moved across the state today. As the thunderstorms cleared the state, and conditions became safe to work, crews resumed work to restore power.
Last week, I toured parts of the Entergy Mississippi service area that were devastated by the recent tornado outbreak, including Rolling Fork, Silver City and Winona. It was destruction that I have never seen in my time at Entergy or in my personal life as a Mississippian.
More thunderstorms and possible tornadoes moving through the area today could delay some restoration work, but crews are working to restore power as quickly and safely as they can.
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