Mississippi Power prepares for 2023 Hurricane Season

Today is not only the start of June, but also the kick off of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Now is the time to make sure you are prepared in case a storm hits the Mississippi Gulf Coast this season.

Mississippi Power has already strengthened its service territory in the event of a hurricane.

Nearly 85 percent of Mississippi Power customers are on a self-healing network, which allows outages to be shorter and more isolated. Mississippi Power Storm Director Melvin Roland said, “When power goes out, we know before customers can call. Now we do ask that if the power goes out for customers to call to make sure just in case our system doesn’t alert us, but then our system is also intelligent enough that if we have a disturbance it tries to limit the disturbance and restore power to as many customers as possible.”

In addition to the self-healing network, the company is continually hardening the power delivery system against weather events by installing concrete poles in strategic locations and raising substations above possible flood water.

With a forecasted 13 to 15 named storms this hurricane season, customers should take time now to prepare their homes and families in the case of a possible impact. Mississippi Power Spokesman Jeff Shepard said, “The things you want to talk about…are you going to stay, or are you going to evacuate? If you are going to evacuate… has the route changed or has the road closed? You know, there’s a bridge that’s closed in Pearlington that was a pretty big evacuation route, so if that was in your plans before, that needs to be updated. Do you have pets? Do you have elderly people? Do you have children…medicines… all of the different things that you need to kind of think about, plan ahead, make a list, so you’re not rushing to do it at the last minute.”

Additional tips when entering hurricane season include building an emergency kit, stocking food and water, and following proper generator safety protocols.