At this time, Memphis Light Gas and Water is reporting 129,000 customers are without power and it is estimated some homes in the Memphis area will not have power for at least a week.
The NOAA radar map is not showing any HURRICANES following the storm which started in Memphis. For UP TO DATE HURRICANE COVERAGE check out the Hurricane Tracker website
Below is some local news from the Memphis region on the storm.
Team 3 Coverage: Storm Damage
WREG Staff
10:33 PM CDT, June 12, 2009
FAST FACTS:
Violent storms hit the Mid-South
129,000 MLGW customers without power
Could be a week before all power is restored
( Memphis June 12, 2009 ) -- Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee were hit hard by a violent storm system that swept through the region just as the evening rush hour started Friday. Trees toppled onto houses and power lines blocked roads. In Northeast Memphis a truck rolled over on Interstate 40 near Covington Pike injuring the driver. The heavy rains forced drivers on every interstate and stretch of road to slow down or stop.
North Memphis was hit hard. The roof was blown off an old Sears building and trees fell on several homes. People in the area say their calls for help went unanswered leaving them to come together and clean up the mess.
Investigators from the National Weather Service will be in town Saturday checking out the damage and determining if tornados or powerful winds caused the destruction.
Power crews are spread out all across the Mid-South trying to get the lights back on in many neighborhoods. Right now Memphis Light Gas and Water is reporting 129,000 customers are without power. Midtown, North Memphis and the Bartlett area have the most outages. Entergy is reporting 2,000 customers without power. Most of them in Forrest City and Wynne.
Tree Falls on West Memphis Man During Storm
MEMPHIS, TN – Memphis police say a man was hurt when a tree fell on him while he was trying to take refuge from a strong storm that rolled through the city.
According to a Memphis police spokesperson, the West Memphis man and his daughter were at the Pyramid when the storm crossed the Mississippi River into Memphis. Police say they were trying to take cover from the storm when a tree fell and hit the man.
The 40 year-old was taken to The MED in critical condition and has since been upgraded to serious condition.
Severe Storm Slams
Downtown Memphis
Updated: Friday, 12 Jun 2009, 9:24 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 12 Jun 2009, 9:16 PM CDT
Memphis, TN - Broken glass was the majority of damage found in Downtown Memphis immediately after Friday's afternoon storms.
"It was worse than I expected," said art gallery owner, Deborah Taylor.
Taylor owns D Edge Art Gallery on South Main. It lost one of it's store front windows following whipping winds.
"I was told roofing blew off and hit the window but I don't see any roofing," Taylor said.
The sharpness of the glass shattering punctured a piece of folk art but the rest was saved. Across the street at Central Station Apartments even more damage.
"I didn't have any damage to my apartment, just my car windows blown out," James Stone said.
A string of cars along the Main Street entrance took a real beating.
"In a matter of 2 or 3 minutes because we were looking at the storm come through from the apartment," Stone said.
In the Midtown area a tree snapped at Poplar and Avalon, knocking out power lines. Not far from the Memphis Zoo, more toppled trees. One uprooted onto a house on Hawthorne. No one was home. But the family pets inside at the time are ok. And in the Chickasaw Gardens area on Central Avenue, another fallen tree.
"The house is fine, it just messed up our parking situation a little bit," said Ryan Fuess.
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