UPDATE: Fallen Tree Causes 7-Hour Power Loss for Residences and Businesses Under Heat Advisory – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper

NATCHEZ – Damage from a tree that fell from the lawn of The Elms on Martin Luther King Jr. Road on Saturday afternoon resulted in a loss of power to dozens of area residents and a few businesses late into Saturday evening .

The tree fell between State and Washington streets on Martin Luther King Jr. Road around 1 p.m. Saturday, taking power lines with it, Natchez Police Chief Joseph Daughtry said, adding that he barely had missed a witness’s car.

The damage was so extensive that the loss of power to 41 Entergy residential and business customers lasted more than seven hours.

The National Weather Service previously issued a heat warning for the region all day Saturday, saying the heat index would reach up to 115 degrees. The weather service warned residents to stay out of the sun in an air-conditioned room as much as possible, which was not an option for the dozens of people who lost their power. That was before a severe thunderstorm caused extensive damage to power lines across Adams County on Sunday morning.

Guy Bass, who co-owns the Malt Shop on Homochitto Street, said the power loss cost him around $2,000 in lost business and spoiled food.

“It cost us dearly,” he said. “We closed around 1 p.m. and only reopened (Monday). We lost things in the freezer that we had to throw away and the Chevron was closed across the street. They closed and reopened on Sunday.

Bass said he thought Entergy had to fix the transformer boxes, which was time-consuming.

On Monday, Tim Runnels, a spokesperson for Entergy, said he had no information about this particular power outage.

The tree blocked both lanes of traffic on Martin Luther King Jr. Road.

Entergy and Natchez Public Works arrived on the scene minutes later to help clear the debris.