Severe Storms, Heat Advisory Create Havoc
V. Hugh Lewis II/Jefferson Jimplecute
Marion County residents were still reeling from last Friday’s early morning storms which produced 80 mph straight line winds, an EF-1 tornado near Elysian Fields, lots of damage, and the “worst power outage in 40 years” across the County.
Power was out across most of the county Friday and Saturday as heat indexes reached the upper 90s and SWEPCO and URECC brought in crews from across the country to try and restore power to a 22 county region.
Power began being restored late Friday in some areas of the County. As of press time Wednesday, the County remained at a 41% without power. Both SWEPCO and URECC gave 10p Friday as the estimate for full restoration.
Marion County Judge Leward LaFleur officially declared a local disaster at noon last Saturday, setting in motion a formal request for assistance from Texas Deparment of Emergency Management. TDEM arrived on site late Monday afternoon.
During the interim residents and local businesses came together to offer assistance however possible sharing generators, freezer space, debris removal, and rides to cooling stations.
Jefferson Mayor Rob Baker and Jefferson Police Chief Tino Perez opened the Jefferson Transportation/Visitors Center Saturday morning as a cooling and recharge station. The building became a distribution point as water, ice, and meals ready to eat (MRE) arrived.
“Leward and I will keep the building open until everyone has power,” said Baker.
Mims VFD station also opened as a distribution and cooling station on Monday. Gray VFD made trips to Jefferson to pickup ice, water and MREs for people in the Eastern end of the County.
The municipal water systems around the County stayed operational for the most part due to early preparations following last year’s winter storm.
Eastern Marion County water was without service for a short time period as they were completing upgrades and had started flushing the system when the power went out. Generators had been on order for over eight months. Loaners were provided and service was restored on Sunday.
The Marion County Jail and Courthouse were without power following the failure of their generator. Power was restored there Sunday evening when the downtown Jefferson grid came back online.
Sheriff David Capps later clarified to say the generator did not fail, but wasn’t connected to many plugs. According to Capps, the temperatures in the jail did not rise above 82 degrees.
Individuals also joined the support resources by making sandwiches and other food items and distributing them.
Friday, Bulldog Pizza and The Hive were the only restaurants operating due to the loss of power. Auntie Skinners rented a generator and were able to open ate Friday evening.
Other local restaurants opened as they were able to begin offering food to residents.
Fuel for generators was the next biggest hurdle the County faced as without power, fuel pumps could not operate. V-Mart was the only gas station in the County operating from Friday to Sunday when their power went out. Most stations in town were back operating by Monday.
Residents were traveling as far away as Texarkana to obtain gasoline and diesel.
As of press time Wednesday afternoon, various support services were still operating around the County and should be open until power is fully restored.
If power is restored in your area and you do not have power at your home or business, power companies have requested you contact them so it can be restored quickly.
The Jimplecute is publishing a Power Outages report each morning and updating as new information is received. It is available at MarionCoHerald.com. It is also available on our FaceBook page. If you have updates, feel free to contact us via email jeffersonjimplecute@gmail.com, or text or call 903-240-9049 or 903-665-2462.