Officials with the National Weather Service confirmed on Saturday that two tornadoes touched down in the Memphis metropolitan area during Friday’s round of severe weather.
The NWS says the first tornado hit about three miles southwest of Bartlett’s town center (about six miles from the MoonDog’s house). Officials say it was an EF1 tornado, with winds up to 105 miles per hour.
The storm tore up trees along Highway 14 and sliced through City Auto, a car dealership. The twister also caused roof damage to homes, uprooted trees and broke power lines.
The second tornado caused serious damage in Olive Branch, Mississippi, where many residents say they never heard any warning sirens go off before the storm hit.
Major Mark Kimbell with the Olive Branch Police Department says, “At this point in time we are not able to make any determinations (about the sirens).
We are still operating under emergency procedures and once this operation is complete we will be able to further assess the situation as well as these concerns.”
NWS officials say the Olive Branch tornado touched down near the Department of Transportation weigh station on Highway 78. That tornado was an EF2, with winds up to 120 miles per hour.
The storm damaged a condo complex and several homes. Large trees were also toppled.
An Entergy spokesperson says as of Saturday evening, the number of those in DeSoto County, Mississippi without power had dropped from 8900 to fewer than 6000. But officials warn it could be Monday before power is back on for everyone.
No serious injuries were reported from either tornado.
As for the Memphis area, NWS officials say they recorded straight-line winds reaching 80 miles per hour, which would explain the massive power outages.
After the storms struck, Memphis Light, Gas & Water reported nearly 130,000 customers were without power. As of late Saturday, MLGW spokesperson Chris Stanley says 77,000 MLGW customers are still in the dark.
But more bad news came on Sunday morning when another line of thunderstorms hit the Memphis area.
Sixty-three electric crews and 50 tree trimming crews are working to restore power to the Memphis area, after Sunday morning storms knocked out power to 10,000 more customers.
While crews had restored power to all but 55,000 customers by early Sunday, morning storms increased the number back up to 65,000. MLGW spokesperson Chris Stanley said crews have trimmed this number to 53,000 customers without power as of mid-day.
