Storm slaps trees, power, delays CodeRed web access

Published 12:02 pm Friday, June 1, 2012

Warren County will have a break this weekend from severe weather that knocked out power, toppled trees and prevented the county’s emergency warning system from gong online.

The weather will be clear and cool this weekend after wind gusts up to 24 mph were recorded Thursday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Latrice Maxey.

“It looks like things are going to be generally clear for the weekend,” Maxey said.

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

The gusts knocked limbs from trees and caused more than 2,300 customers to lose power at the height of the storm, Entergy spokesman Don Arnold said.

“There were trees and wires down everywhere,” Arnold said.

A link to sign up for the voluntary CodeRed phone and text alert system for severe weather was expected to go to the county website Thursday, but the power outage delayed the addition, said Emergency Management director John Elfer.

“The bad weather kind of threw a kink into things,” Elfer said.

Technicians were working this morning to get CodeRed online, Elfer said.

Until CodeRed is added to the website, residents who want to participate in the program may enroll at Elfer’s office in the basement of Warren County Courthouse.

City residents have had access to CodeRed under a contract with Florida-based Emergency Communications Network.

In May, supervisors unanimously approved a three-year deal that binds Warren County to pay $15,625 in the first year and $18,750 the final two years. The program is free for residents to register a cell or land line phone number to receive calls or text messages about tornado warnings, evacuation orders and similar events.

For six Entergy customers in the county — five in Bovina and one on Mississippi 27 — the power outage continued this morning, Arnold said.

Temperatures are expected to dip into the low 50s tonight, Maxey said, but as the cold front passes, the mercury will rise into the 90s Saturday and Sunday.