Storm slams West Tennessee with strong winds, causing outages, damage

JACKSON, Tenn. — A line of storms with high winds raked across West Tennessee Thursday afternoon.

The damage left behind included downed trees on power lines and roofs, resulting in numerous power outages across multiple utility providers.

One man in the Three Way area came home to a massive tree that had fallen on power lines in his neighborhood, leaving he and his neighbors without power.

Alan Yates says he wasn’t home when the storm hit, but got a call from his son.

“It was about 3:30 this afternoon. I was at work and my son called and said, ‘Dad we’re having a bad storm at the house and the tree in the front yard is gone,'” Yates said.

Now Yates just hopes that his power will be back on soon.

“We’re just hoping to get some electricity back before tonight is over and get it cleaned up,” he said.

Meanwhile, downtown Humboldt was also hit with strong winds during the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival.

Several festival canopies were knocked over, limbs, branches and debris littered the streets.

Parts of Jackson received damage, including trees down in front yards and some even falling on fences.

West Tennessee utility crews are working non-stop to get power back on for thousands of residents still in the dark.

Steve Bowers with Jackson Energy Authority says there are around 2,000 customer still without power.

He says crews will be working well into Friday to get the power back on.

Meanwhile, Gibson Electric Corporation says power has been restored to all but 662 members, as of 10 p.m. Thursday.

Gibson EMC says nearly 6,500 were without power at 7 p.m.