The lights went out in Chattanooga's South Brainerd around 6 a.m. Wednesday, as single-digit temps, brittle limbs and power lines combined for scores of power outages across the Chattanooga area. As more people woke to darkness, more outage reports poured into utilities across the region.
More than 300 outages were reported in the Brainerd area, 70 more were reported in the Dallas Road area and Polk County had more than 500 before 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to area utilities' outage maps. Other outages on the EPB power grid were shown between Soddy-Daisy and Bakewell, near Highway 58 and in the Fort Oglethorpe area. Almost two dozen outages were reported later Wednesday morning in the Ooltewah area, continuing to up the total.
"Currently, about 800 customers in EPB's service area are experiencing power outages due to two separate factors: Lines and poles damaged by fallen trees/limbs from snow and ice and infrastructure damage driven by record-breaking extreme cold," utility spokesperson Sophie Moore said in a phone call and by email. "EPB teams are working across our service area to restore power as quickly as possible. While we have been able to restore nearly 1,800 customers automatically through the Smart Grid, extreme temperatures like the ones we are experiencing are placing a historically high demand on our electric infrastructure."
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Most outages among EPB's customers were caused by downed trees and fallen limbs, though the outages in Brainerd were related to equipment damage from the cold, Moore said.
The region's utilities' online power outage maps were constantly changing Wednesday as residents reported power outages and crews worked to fix them. In Hamilton County, most of the Brainerd outages were restored about 10 a.m., though pockets of outages still remained here and there, including the Goldpoint Circle area, where nearly 100 customers still had no electricity at noon.
According to Volunteer Energy Cooperative's outage map at about 9:30 a.m., power was restored to most customers in Bradley County. The number of outages climbed to more than 500 in Meigs County, and 550 outages were reported in Polk County. The utility also reported more than 150 outages among its Hamilton County customers, and all of those were fixed by afternoon.
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By midday Wednesday, the road closure list was unchanged from 7:45 a.m., according to the Hamilton County 911 center. Road closures remained on Lightfoot Mill Road, Montlake Road at Terrace Falls Drive, Mowbray Pike at Indian Ridge Lane, Lillard Road, Sawyer Road, Rock Bluff Road at Fairview Road, Suck Creek Road, East Daytona Drive, Forsythe Street, Market Street at King Street, Hamill Road at Gann Store Road, Leggett Road, W Road, Shoal Creek Road at Palisades Drive and Roberts Mill Road.
More cold coming
Heating systems and heat pumps used by many homes and businesses are not designed for such frigid temperatures and are working beyond their capacity, Moore said. She urged residents across the region to set thermostats to 65-68 degrees and wear additional layers of clothing to stay comfortable and safe.
With more cold weather in the forecast, Moore urged residents to delay using major appliances until the weather improves, keep exterior and garage doors closed as much as possible, avoid using hot water when possible and open window coverings on the sunny side of the house. Keep window coverings closed in shady areas, reverse ceiling fans to rotate clockwise and turn off everything when leaving a room.
"If you have a fireplace, make sure the damper or flue is closed when not in use so air doesn't escape," Moore said.
After a predicted high Thursday in Chattanooga of 43 degrees, the thermometer will fall to 31 degrees by early Friday and will only climb to 36 before plunging to 11 degrees by Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service office in Morristown, Tennessee. The high Saturday is expected to hit 25 before dropping to 11 degrees again by Sunday morning. Temperatures are predicted to climb Sunday to about 35.
Next week should start off warmer, according to forecasters.
A thaw in the weather service forecast for Monday calls for a sunny sky and a high near 47 with a chance of showers Monday night and Tuesday. The high Tuesday will be near 51.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.