Batesville — Entergy Mississippi, Inc. is preparing for the  possibility of power outages over the next  couple of days that could be caused by accumulation of ice and snow on power  lines, utility poles and tree limbs.

The National Weather Service is predicting that rain will begin Thursday  evening and continue through Friday. The rain may end as a mix of freezing  rain, sleet and snow north of Interstate 20 Friday night or Saturday.  Southaven and Senatobia have the highest probability for  accumulating ice, where up to 1/8” is possible, with a coating expected  elsewhere.

South of Interstate 20 rain with embedded thunderstorms is expected from late  Friday morning through the night. Friday afternoon and evening is when the  potential for severe weather will be greatest. The main threat would be for  wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph and frequent lightning.

Ice storms have the potential to pose significant threat to an electric  system. Although the forecast doesn’t appear to be a major winter storm,  Entergy Mississippi is leaving nothing to chance. Company  officials are making sure that crews are prepared if the state experiences bad  weather.

“We’ve been working with our weather vendors throughout the week to better  understand the potential risk and are preparing accordingly,” said Rick Riley,  director of operations for Entergy Mississippi, Inc. “We model anticipated  damage and stock up on needed materials, ready our trucks for driving on snow  and ice, organize the manpower and arrange for food and lodging for the crews.  

“It’s an enormous undertaking, but part of the job. Our intent is to plan for  the worst while we hope for the best.”

When planning which work will be done first, following a storm, Entergy  Mississippi places top priority on restoring service to  facilities considered critical, such as hospitals, fire stations, police  departments and other public facilities. After critical infrastructure has  been restored to the degree possible, the objective is to do the work that  will get the largest numbers of customers on as quickly as possible.

 

Entergy Mississippi urges all customers with a power outage to  report it by calling 1-800 9OUTAGE (1-800 968-8243).  Storm preparedness  tips and much more information is available at Entergy’s Web site at Entergy.com <http://www.entergy.com/> .

 

Other online services available are “My Account Anywhere” and “View  Outages.”  “My  Account  Anywhere lets customers send and receive text information about  power outages through their cell phones. Customers can also receive alerts  about outages at their homes and businesses. To use the service, customers  must register a cell phone number to their Entergy account. Registration is  simple. From any text-capable cell phone, send the message “reg” (without  quotes) to 368374. The system will respond and ask for an Entergy account  number and ZIP code. Anyone with Internet access can go to Entergy.com <http://www.entergy.com/> , click on “View Outages” and see where outages are  occurring down to the street level.

 The following tips should be helpful for  individuals in the path of a winter storm:

·  Live wires can be deadly. Stay away from downed  power lines.

 · Don’t trim trees or remove debris on or near  downed power lines. Only power company crews or their contractors should  remove trees or limbs touching power lines.

· Keep away from metal fences and other objects that  can become energized if they come in contact with downed power lines.

 · Keep away from the immediate areas where crews are  working. There is always the danger of moving equipment and the possibility of  construction materials or limbs or overhead wires falling to the ground.

· If you plan on using a generator for temporary  power, get a licensed electrician and disconnect from the utility electric  system before hooking up to your home main electric panel.

 · Do not run a generator in a confined space without  adequate ventilation.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides  electricity to more than 433,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary  of Entergy Corporation. Entergy  Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric  power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates  power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating  capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the  United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility  customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

 Entergy  Mississippi’s online address is entergy-mississippi.com <http://www.entergy-mississippi.com/> .