Thousands without power in Vicksburg

Downtown Vicksburg was without power Saturday night after a series of transformers blew out along Washington Street and an electrical substation near Horizons Casino emitted fire and smoke.

The chain reaction began about 4:30 p.m. — and for some customers, the outage will continue at least into the afternoon, said Entergy spokesman Don Arnold.

About 1,800 customers were without power, Arnold said.

“We’ve got about eight spans of wire down from the substation,” Arnold said. “We’re trying to get some crews to help from outside of our area. It will be a pretty major job to get it all back up.”

Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said there would be beefed-up patrols in the affected areas until the power is restored.

Read more in Sunday’s Vicksburg Post