Tennessee Residents Hit by Powerful Weekend Storm Still Without Power

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Officials asked for patience Wednesday from thousands of Memphis residents whose homes remained without power after a Memorial Day weekend storm lashed the Tennessee city with winds of up to 105 mph (170 kph).

Antonio Parkinson and Joe Towns, two state House members who represent Memphis, suggested that churches, community groups and neighbors should come together to help feed those who had to throw away food they had in their refrigerators due to the power outage created by Saturday night’s storm.

Parkinson said there was a long line Wednesday at the Memphis office of the Tennessee Department of Human Services. The department is providing replacement benefits for households that are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and lost food due to the storm.

Residents were advised to throw away perishable food after four hours of being without power to prevent food-borne sickness.

People also have complained about waiting days to have their electricity restored as temperatures reach above 80 degrees. Jerry Collins, president of Memphis Light, Gas & Water, said Sunday that it could take about a week for power to be fully restored.

“People are suffering, and people are complaining, and rightfully so,” Parkinson said. “But we also have a duty as neighbors to make sure that we are all part of the solution.”

About 188,000 customers lost power. That number was down to about 41,000 on Wednesday. Crews have worked on outages that affected the largest number of people before getting to the smaller ones, Collins said.

Weather officials said winds reached from 60 mph (95 kph) to 105 mph (170 kph) in some places. It knocked down massive trees, felled electrical lines and cut power to street lights and traffic signals. No deaths were reported.

Forty-eight people spent Tuesday night in a shelter, the Red Cross said.