Highway 51 open to traffic
Highway 51 reopened Thursday evening as just a few hundred people are left without power in Madison County, officials say.
“Both Highway 51 and Madison Avenue are back open to normal traffic with no more closures expected,” An announcement from the Madison Police Department said. “Based on The Entergy Power Outage Map, all of Madison now has power.”
Highway 51 closures in Madison began Wednesday morning for the power company to make repairs.
As of 8 p.m. Thursday, April 11, as many as 18,107 customers in Entergy Mississippi’s service area remain without power, Entergy Spokesman Candace Coleman said Thursday evening.
“A workforce of more than 1,400 have worked diligently to restore power to approximately 49,700 customers through this storm event,” Coleman said.
As of Friday morning, just 403 Entergy customers in Madison County are without power down from a peak of of more than 9,000 customers without power earlier this week.
“Crews continue to make progress on the restoration process since Tuesday evening and Wednesday’s severe storms caused extensive damage to facilities across Entergy Mississippi’s service area,” Coleman said. “The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes impacted customers in Hinds and Madison counties.”
Assessments continue to find damage to Entergy equipment, Coleman said. As many as 189 poles, 702 spans of downed wire (approximately 36 miles), 45 transformers and 72 crossarms, Coleman said. Additionally, Entergy has seen impacts from the 2023 drought, which according to the Mississippi Forestry Commission resulted in more than 12.5 million dead trees in the state.
“Our crews continue to encounter many downed trees as they work,“ Coleman said.
Coleman went on to say, “Many customers will be restored Thursday evening. However, due to the severity of damages and the widespread impact, some customers in the areas of Natchez, McComb, Hazlehurst, Clinton, Jackson, Hinds County, Madison, Vicksburg, Carthage, Grenada, Charleston, Carmack and Enid may carry over into Friday evening. There could be some isolated cases that carry over into Saturday. These estimates are subject to change as damage assessment continues.”
If you are without power, check for damage to the electrical equipment attached to your home or business. If your power is out and your electric equipment appears undamaged, call 1-800-9OUTAGE, 1-800-968-8243.
Entergy restoration workers cannot restore power to a location with a damaged meter base, conduit or weather head (the metal pipe extending upward from the structure with electrical cables inside). These items must be repaired by a qualified electrician before our workers can restore them. Learn more about the electrical equipment that serves your home.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as our crews safely work to restore customers’ power,’ Coleman said.
Entergy Mississippi, LLC provides electricity to approximately 459,000 customers in 45 counties. Entergy Mississippi is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 electric company. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. For the latest news from Entergy Mississippi, visit the Newsroom and connect with @EntergyMS on social media.