WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Middle Tennessee Electric says "virtually all" of their members have had their electric power restored as of Friday evening.
More than 105,000 Middle Tennessee Electric residents and businesses lost power following the EF3 tornado. Crews worked for 90 straight hours, and as of 8 p.m. Friday, the company says virtually all members have had their electric service restored.
Some Wilson County members may experience brief outages as crews replace circuits and equipment.
The company does say there is still work to do, however, to return the electric infrastructure to its pre-tornado state.
In all, 31 TVA transmission structures were damaged or downed and 17 high-voltage transmission lines were downed, including at least one crossing I-40 near Lebanon and another crossing the Cumberland River. For Middle Tennessee Electric, the damage was even more catastrophic to its distribution grid. Eight substations were damaged and taken off-line; more than 325 poles were broken or downed; and miles of line was dislodged.
“It was a week where we saw incredible destruction, heartbreak and loss. But it was also a week when we saw Team MTEMC at its finest. Great teams respond in great ways to great challenges, so it comes as no surprise that’s just what happened,” Chris Jones, President/CEO of Middle Tennessee Electric, said. “It has been incredible and historic; I couldn’t be prouder of every single MTE team member.”
Several thousand remain without power in Nashville after Monday night's tornado. NES says they hope to have much of the power restored by Monday.
