Some power providers say it may be weeks, not days, before electricity is restored to parts of Mississippi battered by the weekend’s deadly winter storm – an event that could turn out to be the state’s most destructive winter weather since a massive ice storm in 1994.

At a Monday afternoon press conference, Gov. Tate Reeves announced he is deploying the Mississippi National Guard to help with logistics and getting emergency supplies to parts of the state hardest hit. Maj. Gen. Bobby Ginn, adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, said 500 guardsmen are being mobilized and he expects them to be fully operational, based at Camp McCain near Grenada, by Wednesday morning. 

Reeves said that over 20% of the homes across the country without power are in Mississippi. The state has received 30 generators from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to meet critical needs, such as at hospitals and nursing homes. Mississippi requested 30 more generators that will arrive by Tuesday, and the state can request an additional supply if needed, Reeves said.

FEMA officials are in the state to help distribute water, meals, blankets and other supplies after President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Mississippi on Saturday.

The governor said there are many challenges to relief efforts due to the icy weather and low temperatures, with officials from the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency highlighting the unique difficulties of ice storms. 

Frigid temperatures, icy roads and downed trees have impeded restoration efforts, especially in rural areas of the state. Two deaths – one each in Hinds County and Tishomingo County – and two injuries from the storm have been reported in the state.

Officials with Entergy Mississippi, the state’s largest electric utility, on Monday afternoon announced power restoration estimates for different parts of its service area: Wednesday night for Natchez, Clinton, Madison, Vicksburg and Senatobia; Friday night for Cleveland, Indianola, Greenville and Lexington; and Sunday night for Grenada, which the company said was one of the hardest hit places.

About 153,000 customers were without power across 47 of the 82 counties at midday Monday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said.

Entergy

Entergy Mississippi serves over 400,000 customers in 45 counties. The company said Monday that the storm had impacted 55,000 of its customers and it had deployed over 2,700 workers.

As of Monday, the company had assessed just under half of its service area for damages. Those numbers included 234 broken poles, 50 miles of wires down, and 35 damaged transformers.

In a video press release, Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi, reminded people to stay away from downed power lines and to report any downed lines to 1-800-968-8243 or on www.entergy.com. He also advised customers with outages to unplug all appliances to prevent surges when power is restored.

Fisackerly added that continued freezing temperatures could cause more outages.

During a press conference with Entergy, Central District Public Service Commissioner De’Keither Stamps called on residents and churches that get heat through natural gas to offer shelter to neighbors staying in cold homes. He also advised Mississippians to keep their thermostats at or below 70 degrees to prevent overburdening the power grid.

Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi 

Twelve of the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi’s 26 operations have requested restoration assistance with additional crews coming from out of state. According to a Monday press release, travel is dangerous in parts of the state that have been hardest hit and it is difficult to say when everything will be back on.

Tippah, Alcorn, Benton and Union counties 

The Tippah Electric Power Association, which serves 13,927 customers in Tippah, Alcorn, Benton, and Union counties in Mississippi as well as Hardeman County in Tennessee, reported Monday that all but six of its customers had lost power. The provider said Sunday it is looking at “weeks instead of days to restore power” to everyone.

The utility is one of several in north Mississippi that buys power from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

“Tippah EPA still does not have feed to 5 of our substations,” the utility wrote on its Facebook page. On Sunday, the provider wrote that its power distribution system had “suffered catastrophic damage.”

“TVA and local power company crews are working around the clock to restore service as safely and quickly as possible,” TVA spokesperson Julia Wise told Mississippi Today on Monday. “We are making progress despite difficult conditions for workers, including fallen trees, deep snow, icy roads and frigid temperatures. Crews are on the ground and in the air assessing storm damage and repairing transmission lines.”

TVA serves 346,000 customers in northeastern Mississippi, through local public utilities and cooperatives.

Officials in Ripley, the county seat of Tippah County, reported both gas and water outages in addition to the power troubles. “Most areas” of Ripley dealt with water issues after an outage at a pump station, city officials wrote on social media. 

On Sunday, the city also reported a “major gas line break” between Ripley and Blue Mountain that left “many residents” without gas. Officials Monday said repairs were still in progress.

Tishomingo County Electric Power Association

“It’s a war zone out here,” said Cody Durham, CEO of Tishomingo County Electric Power Association. Around 80% of Tishomingo Electric’s customers are without power. 

Durham said restoring power to the county’s electric water pumps is the first priority. He hopes water would be restored by Monday night. 

“We’re doing the best we can to work through these tough conditions,” Durham said. Because of cold and icy conditions, he said it’s impossible to know the exact extent of the damage. He requested additional crews to help clear trees and repair lines. He urged people to check for warming shelters that are being set up in the county and go there if the roads are passable.

Water and generator system failures

Local newsrooms report boil-water notices for Quitman County, Panola County and Holly Springs. The Mississippi State Department of Health’s Bureau of Public Water Supply is working with local water systems to clear the boil advisories, according to department spokesperson Greg Flynn. 

He said no contamination has been reported, but water systems need to check their quality whenever a power outage causes a drop in water pressure. Because there may be no power to boil water in some places, Flynn said people might need to use bottled water.

County emergency management contacts in Quitman County, Panola County and Marshall County did not immediately respond to Mississippi Today’s calls Monday. Scott Simmons, Mississippi Emergency Management Authority’s external affairs director, said MEMA is working with local governments and the state Department of Transportation to take 64,000 bottles of water to north Mississippi communities that lack access to fresh tap water. 

“It’s going to be a challenge, but that’s the challenge we’re tackling right now,” Simmons said.

David Kenney, a spokesperson for the state transportation department, said the agency was continuing to clear fallen trees from highways and interstates. 

Sharkey County

Officials in Sharkey County said most of the nearly 4,000 residents don’t have power. The city of Rolling Fork was also under a boil water notice on Monday due to low water pressure some areas. Natalie Perkins, deputy director of Sharkey County Emergency Management, said it could take until Tuesday morning for most people to have water restored. 

Crews are working to fix downed power lines but some roads are still impassable in rural parts of the county due to downed power poles and trees. 

“Everybody’s in the same situation in the whole county and all of the utilities and infrastructure officials are working as fast as they can,” Perkins said, adding that county residents should be prepared for it to take a week for power to be fully restored.

Marshall County

In Marshall County, which for years has dealt with fragile infrastructure owned by the Holly Springs Utility Department, District 1 Supervisor Goston Glover said crews were slowly restoring power in the area as of Monday morning. 

“It’s terrible,” said Glover, while adding that the response has been a “hell of a lot better than” after previous storms. “We had a tremendous amount of ice that came through here.”

Holly Springs officials did not respond to calls from Mississippi Today. Mayor Charles Terry wrote on the city’s Facebook page on Monday, “I want to assure you that we are doing our due diligence to restore your service as quickly as possible. We have contract crews working alongside our regular staff. Additional crews are scheduled to come in tomorrow.”

Update, 1/26/2026: This story has been updated with information from Gov. Tate Reeves and details about Sharkey County and Marshall County.