Link to slide show of damage: Click here

Link Slide show from WREG Click Here

Update: Powerless customers total 117,000
July 27, 2003

On Sunday morning, MLGW reported that the number of customers without power had been reduced to 117,000.

Tuesday's storm knocked out power to more than 300,000 homes and businesses.
 

Specialists work Saturday to reduce the risk of collapse for a listing crane at the FedExForum site. Two other cranes damaged in Tuesday’s windstorm have already been stabilized. Parts of the nearby Beale Street entertainment district are closed at least through Monday.

Jasmine Sullivan (left) was in the car with her mom Deborah Campbell when the storm hit. A tree fell on their Kia at Trezevant and North Parkway. Both escaped uninjured. Jasmine views the wreck with friend Thomas Roach.

Utility crews are battling fatigue and danger to restore power to residents while MLGW executives try to regain consumer confidence after refusing help from about 800 workers sent to DeSoto County by Entergy, a Mississippi-based utility company. Lineman Steve ‘Scubert’ Smith carefully re-strings a 23-kilovolt primary line on Forest Hill-Irene Road north of Winchester. President Herman Morris said more than 700 workers from other companies have been assisting local technicians and that adding more workers, unfamiliar with MLGW equipment, would be unsafe.

A house on Linden Avenue near Cooper is one of dozens smashed. Removing a large tree from a house takes at least two days — at a cost of about $150 an hour — said crane operator Gerlie Bilderback.

By Marc Perrusquia
perrusquia@gomemphis.com
July 26, 2003

Saturday arrived mercifully in Memphis as a day of giving.

Nearly a third of the utility customers still had no power - many with little to eat and no good place to sleep - yet those in need found plenty of help.

"I lost all my food,'' said Lucell Jones, 60, who came to Christ Missionary Baptist Church to fill out a food assistance application from Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association. "I said to myself, 'How am I going to eat?' ''

The most pressing problem remains power outages. About 133,000 of Memphis Light, Gas and Water's 450,000 customers remained without power late Saturday. It could be until at least next weekend before all power is restored, said MLGW spokesman Mark Heuberger.

As promised, MLGW posted a list on its Web site, www.mlgw.com, announcing where crews are working to restore power. The roster is labeled a "partial list,'' and Heuberger said officials still were working out kinks.

Throughout the city and across Shelby County volunteers responded Saturday to the great demand created by last Tuesday's storm.

The Salvation Army handed out meals, the Red Cross provided shelter.

Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton unveiled plans to deliver meals to shut-ins and Gov. Phil Bredesen held out new hope for federal storm-damage assistance for homeowners.

Meanwhile, officials battled persistent rumors - called unfounded by a law enforcement spokesman - that a tall storm-damaged construction crane was ready to topple at the FedExForum site downtown.

From his underground command center near Midtown, emergency planning officer Joe Lowry geared up for what promises to be another big day today in crisis management.

"We've had everyone and his brother in here,'' said Lowry, of the Memphis and Shelby County Emergency Management Agency.

Amid overhead fluorescent lamps and sterile white walls and floors, Lowry and his crew have worked nonstop for four days, coordinating relief efforts.

As many as 60 people from 48 government and private agencies filled the emergency operations center Tuesday after the storm hit, but by Saturday afternoon the numbers had dwindled to less than 20.

"I'm tired,'' said assistant EMA planning officer Sammy Crews, who's been sleeping in a hard-mattress bunk at the operations center since Tuesday night.

On Tuesday, a tree fell on his house. The electricity cut off. Working almost nonstop since then, Crews knocked off briefly Friday night to attend a rehearsal for his sister's wedding. Crews planned another brief respite Saturday night - to attend the wedding.

"Then, I'm coming right back,'' he said.

Dedication, adrenaline and coffee have kept the emergency team going as they assist police in keeping law and order, help locate fallen trees and debris and coordinate efforts of relief and social services agencies.

With power out for many residents, county officials unveiled a plan to deliver food to needy families who lack resources to visit MIFA, the Red Cross or other help agencies.

"No citizen in Shelby County will go hungry,'' said Charlotte Kennedy, county community services director.

Families needing help should call the community services representative stationed at EMA's operations center at 458-1515, Kennedy said.

The county also is prepared to open the Mid-South Coliseum and other facilities if needed Monday to help state agencies assist families, she said.

City public works director Jerry Collins said a free public dump site for homeowners will open today at Collins Yard, 304 Collins. The dump site will be available 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for storm debris.

The helping hands came as Bredesen's natural hazards director said he expects to get an answer from President Bush as early as this week on a request for federal storm-damage assistance.

Part of the request for federal funds includes aid for Shelby County homeowners who suffered property losses.

If approved, uninsured or under-insured Shelby County homeowners could apply for grants or loans up to $25,000, said Cecil Whaley, director of natural hazards for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

Back at the operations center, Sheriff's Office spokesman Steve Shular said about 30 sheriff's deputies and reserve officers continue to man posts around FedExForum, where a construction crane was damaged in Tuesday's storm.

Police radio traffic Friday evening indicated the crane might fall, but it was still standing Saturday. "At this point everything seems to be stable,'' Shular said.

Officials at M.A. Mortenson Co., the general contractor building the NBA arena, did not return a call for comment.

The operations center has been central in helping the Salvation Army and Red Cross deliver thousands of meals to volunteers and needy families staying in emergency shelters.

At Cherry Road Baptist Church, Mike Stricklin oversaw a crew preparing thousands of meals of breaded steaks, potato salad and pears.

"Since this is Memphis we've got to have country-fried steak,'' said Stricklin, who was overseeing a group of Tennessee Baptist Convention volunteers cooking meals for the Red Cross. "Elvis's favorite.''
 

- Marc Perrusquia:

529-2545

Reporter Tracy Adams contributed to this story
 

'It was the same wind' as Andrew
THE FLASHBACK

By Laura Coleman Noeth
noeth@gomemphis.com
July 27, 2003

She heard the house shake. Along with the rest of the home's occupants, she took cover in a bathroom.

That was in 1992.

As she drove past downed power lines and uprooted trees last Tuesday morning, April Hall went numb. She pulled over. It was too much.

It was Hurricane Andrew all over again.

"It was the same wind," said Hall, 23, an administrative assistant at ServiceMaster. "It's amazing how similar it was."

Hall was attending an aunt's funeral in Miami when the hurricane warning came. About 14 family members were staying in the house. They helped board it up.

Then the storm hit.

"It started hitting different sides of the house. It hit the back of the house hard and it started flooding. The ceiling of the bathroom we were in started coming down. So we moved to the half-bathroom."

The house was demolished. The visitor from Memphis was devastated. It would be years before emotional calm would come.

"No one understood why it was so hard to sleep during storms. The last time there was a bad storm, I crawled in bed with my parents. And I was 19! I crawled right in there between them," Hall said.

Tuesday morning, even as the storm hit, Hall, driving home from a friend's house, had it under control. She drove cautiously on I-240, construction signs blowing around in front of her.

Then the anxiety attack came.

"A sign on the expressway was blown down. I started seeing trees and power lines down.

"I got numb. I had to gasp for air. I pulled to the side of the road. I had to get myself together. I started crying. I just had to sit there and get myself together.

"Looking at the damage was like living through Hurricane Andrew all over again."
 

- Laura Coleman Noeth:

529-5853

Why has national media ignored Memphis storm crisis?
By Aimee Edmondson
edmondson@gomemphis.com
July 27, 2003

They don't know in Oregon or Virginia. They're even clueless in Kentucky.

Shelby County resident Pat Hamlyn can't understand it.

The national media hasn't said much about our upside-down world, our crushed houses, downed trees and epidemic power outages.

"I've talked to my friends around the country, and nobody has heard about the disaster here in Memphis. Why is that?" Hamlyn asked.

Atlanta resident Ervin Johnson has family in Memphis and complained that information there was hard to come by.

"CNN and The Atlanta Journal informed us of an earthquake in Turkey and how help was needed and supplied us with minute by minute coverage of the (California) Gov. Davis recall, but nothing about Memphis."

The Associated Press has a full-time reporter in Memphis who's been filing storm stories regularly. And newspapers and television stations across the country have picked up a short story here and there. Some newspapers have included the news buried deep inside along with a roundup of weather across the country.

It's just that straight-line winds such as those blasting through Memphis last Tuesday generally don't get much attention. Tornado warnings and hurricanes are sexy. Thunderstorms with high winds are pretty boring.

And that's a big problem, said meteorologist Dan Valle with the National Weather Service.

"Wind is wind. It doesn't have to spin to kill you," Valle said.

He also has been surprised by the sparse national coverage of the storm's damage.

On Tuesday morning, Memphis had gusts equivalent to a category one hurricane: 75 to 95 miles per hour.

Valle said the National Weather Service gave 20 minutes notice that the storm coming to town would pack at least 60 mile-an-hour winds and large hail.

"That's just not perceived by the public to be flashy," he said.

But as word spread about the destruction, interest picked up slowly.

Judging by the number of page views at The Commercial Appeal's Web site, the storm's aftermath has been as interesting as the Mike Tyson fight.

There were 266,459 page views when Tyson fought here in June 2002.

Last Tuesday after the storm there were 238,599 page views. As word spread about the destruction, that number jumped to 326,763 views Wednesday.
 

- Aimee Edmondson:

529-2773
 

From WREG TV

Amy Speropoulos Reporting
Tree Pulled From Midtown Home
The Midtown Memphis area is humming with the sound of chain saws and cranes removing trees, limbs and branches. News Channel 3's Amy Speropoulos has more on one area that is now getting some relief.
 
MLGW Says Progress Is Being Made In Restoring Power
Memphis Light, Gas and Water workers continue to tackle the damage from the worst storm in its history and restore power to your community. Right now it's being called an unprecedented response effort. News Channel 3's Alex Coleman is On Your Side with a breakdown of who's got the power and who's without.
 
BIG Problems... Crane Sized Big
If you've been complaining about being hot and in the dark... remember, there are folks who have bigger problems-- much bigger problems. Jennifer Van Vrancken met a few of them and introduces us.
 
Idle Utility Workers Anger Memphians
Some people from Shelby County venturing over the state line to Mississippi for ice or gasoline, are upset by hundreds of utility workers sitting idle in a parking lot. Many called News Channel 3 to ask why. Stephanie Scurlock went to Southaven to answer the question.
 
Bartlett Hit Hard by Storm
If you thought the damage in Memphis was bad listen to this....Bartlett has three times the destruction. News Channel 3's Christine Connolly shows us the devastation.
 
Open Gas Stations
It's hard to find an open gas station. If you have an opening to report, email us. Click here to check the list of open stations in Memphis.
 
Revised Estimate On Restoration Of Power
 
MLGW officials are now saying it could be next weekend before power is restored to all customers. Click on the headline to watch the video for the latest.
 
On Your Side
News Channel 3 Storm Coverage
 
If your power is still out, you aren't alone. MLGW still reports over 200,000 homes without power. The death toll from this storm has risen to 5 - mostly from storm related tragedies after the storm. The latest victim - a two year old boy dies from carbon monoxide poisoning from an unventilated generator. Click on the headline to watch News Channel 3's complete storm coverage.
 
Fatal House Fire
The death toll from Tuesdays storms continues to rise. The latest victims were a couple killed in a house fire Wednesday night.   Get the latest>
 
MLGW Working
 
MLGW is working around the clock to restore power to as many people as possible. Click on the headline to watch the video.
 
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
One child is pronounced dead after a mass carbon monoxide poisoning in East Memphis. Authorities say the 2-year-old child was dead on arrival at Baptist East Hospital - altogether seven children and three adults were overcome by CO fumes from an unventilated generator at a home on McElroy.  Full story>
 
News Channel 3's Mike Matthews reporting
Uncle Sam Can You Spare A Few Million For Memphis?
Damage estimates of the Monday storm are staggering. They will run into the tens of millions of dollars, and Memphis officials say they want money. Some of Uncle Sam's money. And a little jack from Nashville won't hurt either. Because the cleanup from this storm will strain city and county budgets already stretched tighter than a pair of pants around an elephant's waist. NewsChannel 3's Mike Matthews has the story.
 
Powerless Families Fearing Crime-- Sweat It Out
More than 230,000 homes in Memphis and Shelby County are still without electicity. Despite that, some homeowners are keeping their windows closed. They're afraid of becoming a victim of crime more than they fear living in the heat. Stephanie Scurlock has the story.
 
Massive Electrical Restoration
A massive restoration effort is underway in the Memphis area. Hundreds of thousands of people have no power. News Channel 3's Omari Fleming has new information on when your power could be restored.
 
If A Tree Falls In Your Forest...
...should your insurance agent hear about it? Andy Wise is "On Your Side" so you know when is the right time to call your agent after a disaster.
 
Health Department News Releases
The Health Department has issued the following news releases concerning public safety in the wake of the storm. Click on the headline for more information on food and water safety, heat hazards and a post storm advisory for restaurants.
 
Infant Dies In Apartment Fire
The devastating morning of storms turns into a tragic afternoon for one Memphis family. As the storm rolled through, their apartment complex burst into flames... trapping a baby girl inside. News Channel 3's Tom Powell has the story.
 
Slideshow of Damage
It's hard to believe the extent of the damage until you see it. Click here to see a slideshow of the damage from our partner in news, The Commercial Appeal.
 
Power Outages
MLGW estimates that almost half of their customers are without power. There are so many power lines down that they expect it to take some time to restore power. If you want to report downed lines they ask you call (901) 544-6549
 
Downtown Damage
 
The crane at FedExForum is leaning, causing authorities to evacuate Beale Street. Watch News Channel 3's coverage of the storm damage
 
 

.