(April 20, 2011 - 8:30 a.m.) - MLGW crews continue to work this morning to restore power to customers affected by last night's storm. Power has been restored to about 20,000 of the 64,000 customers affected since the storm hit at about 10:45 p.m. last evening. MLGW crews will continue to work 24 hours a day, in 16-hour shifts in order to restore power.

While damage was extensive across Shelby County, the heaviest hit areas appear to be in areas of Raleigh, Frayser, Arlington, Lakeland, and along the Sam Cooper corridor. We are seeing similar damages to the April 4 storm, with downed trees, limbs, power lines and poles being reported.

There are currently more than 80 crews in the field performing troubleshooting, tree trimming and pole and line repairs. At least 16 out-of-town crews are en route to assist with the restoration efforts. These crews should begin arriving this afternoon.

Due to this extensive damage, it may be Sunday before all customers are fully restored, though most of the affected customers can expect to have power before then.

Customers who are without power should call the MLGW Outage Hotline at 544-6500 to make sure their outage is logged in the system. To report an outage, customers will need to have their account number or the phone number that's associated with their account.

Downed Power Lines
To report an emergency such as downed wires or gas leaks, please call 528-4465. This number should be treated like 911 and only used for these types of emergencies.

MLGW urges customers to be aware of their surroundings as they sift through debris and examine damage to their property. Customers should avoid contact with downed power lines—even if their home or area has experienced a loss of power the lines could still be energized and deadly.

Customers are also asked to avoid the immediate area where MLGW crews are working. These work sites can be extremely hazardous.

MLGW first addresses safety issues such as downed power lines, then moves to repair transmission lines and towers that provide power from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to MLGW substations. The early portion of the restoration process focuses on substations, circuits that represent larger groups of customers, and critical facilities such as water pumping stations, hospitals, and other essential facilities.

Generator Safety Tips
Never use a generator indoors or in an enclosed area such as a garage. Generators emit toxic carbon monoxide from the engine exhaust.

A generator should only be operated in a well-ventilated and dry area, away from air intakes to the home.

Do not attempt to restore power to your entire house by plugging the generator into a wall outlet. The electricity produced by a generator cannot only ruin your home's wiring and start a fire, but it can also feed back into the utility system and energize a line thought to be without power possibly killing utility workers trying to restore power. It can also cause damage to the generator when electric service is restored.

Handle fuel carefully. Turn the generator off prior to refueling. Gasoline, kerosene and other flammable liquids should be stored outside of living areas in properly labeled safety containers.

Turn off or disconnect all appliances prior to operating a portable generator. Once the generator is running, appliances powered by the generator can be turned on one at a time.

Important MLGW contact information for customers:

Outage Reporting: 544-6500

Emergency: 528-4465

Customer Care Center: 544-MLGW (6549)

www.twitter.com/mlgw (customers can get additional information about outages and other utility related subjects through Twitter, but still must report their outage at 544-6500 for it to be entered into MLGW's system).

www.facebook.com/mlgw1

MLGW is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving more than 423,000 customers in Memphis and Shelby County.