Electric Co-op Today

A massive severe weather system that moved eastward across the mid-South caused power outages in four states and damaged homes served by a Mississippi co-op.

A tornado that ripped through Yazoo City, Miss., dropped a mobile home into a nearby creek. (Photo By: Yazoo Valley Electric Power Assn.)

High winds and tornadoes toppled trees, destroyed homes and damaged buildings from Louisiana to Tennessee, and prompted authorities to close downtown Yazoo City, Miss., Nov. 29-30.

“A lot of the downtown buildings are pretty heavily damaged,” said Rebecca Yeates, member services coordinator for Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association. “We had some broken poles and there are homes in our service area that are also damaged.”

While the co-op is based in Yazoo City and distributes electricity to consumer-members in the surrounding area, electrical service inside the city limits is supplied by a municipal utility.

“We avoided a lot of damage that could have been much more severe had the tornado hit a few miles away,” said Yeates. She noted that a tornado last April 24 snapped about 500 of the co-op’s poles and heavily damaged at least 300 homes.

“In April, it took us seven days to restore service to everyone,” Yeates told ECT.coop Nov. 30. “We expect to have all of our consumer-members back on by later today.”

Tags: Power Outages, Response, Weather