JEA Says It’s Prepared For Winter Weather
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NORTH JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson Energy Authority says it has a plan if any more freezing rain falls. JEA said they had meetings all week to plan for every possible scenario if more winter weather strikes West Tennessee. “If it goes out, me and my doggy are going to cuddle tonight!” Tiffany Bradley, who lives in Madison County says she is prepared for the worst tonight. “I got blankets ready, get the hot cocoa going, just try to stay warm!! Because it’s cold out here right now!” Bradley said. JEA says it’s prepared too. “They say if a tree limb falls it finds a power line to fall through so when you’re looking at trees and everything that ice is still there. If we get another quarter inch on top of this we can have problems,” Steve Bowers, Communications Manager for JEA, said. Bowers says power lines are made to hold about a quarter inch of ice, so any more freezing rain means a higher chance of power outages. “Fingers crossed. I hope it’s sleet rather than freezing rain if it has to be. Or snow, which is less problematic for us,” Bowers said. He says not a lot can be done before an outage happens, except to be prepared for the moment it does. “The only prep you can do for this kind of weather is make sure your trucks are stocked with what they need and your crews are ready to respond to what’s out there,” Bowers said. Tiffany Bradley says she isn’t as worried about the power outage as she is about others staying warm too. “If it does happen with the power going out hopefully everybody will be somewhere they can stay warm.” Bowers says since Friday less than 800 customers have been without power and only for short periods of time. But less than half were due to ice. A breaker issue was also to blame. JEA says it also did a lot of preventative work last week, like trimming limbs hanging over power lines. If your power does goes out, JEA and other utility companies across West Tennessee ask you call their normal customer line to report an outage.
