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A third of Shelby County lost power Tuesday evening, and restoration will take at least a few days, according to Memphis Light, Gas and Water leadership. 

Overnight, the utility focused on rerouting power, clearing roadways and assessing damage before contract crews arrived Wednesday morning for repairs. MLGW President and CEO Doug McGowen said he’ll share a precise estimate once the utility assesses the damage, but he estimates crews will need at least a few days, based on historical outages. 

Tuesday evening storm cuts power at some MSCS schools

The Tuesday night storm, coming as extreme heat continues to linger in the area, affected just shy of 140,000 customers at its peak and was the eighth-worst storm on record for MLGW, in terms of outages. The seventh worst — a storm known as Little Elvis that occurred in June 2009 — affected 150,000. It took crews a week to restore power to all customers. 

During Tuesday night’s weather, wind gusts exceeded 65 miles per hour and downed trees and limbs, which are the biggest cause of outages.

Straight line winds also downed 11 power poles on Winchester Road, knocking thousands off the grid. Lightning also tripped breakers at utility substations, which McGowen said “had a pretty dramatic impact that we don’t typically see.” 

 By early Wednesday afternoon, about 20% of Shelby County — or 75,000 MLGW customers — were still without power. 

Power outages the eighth-worst in MLGW’s history

An excessive heat warning is in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday, meaning the heat index could reach 112 degrees. 

“I would ask friends and family members to check on other friends and family members to make sure that they’re okay,” McGowen said. “And if you can accommodate them in your home or provide them some respite, please do that.”