Freezing rain from a severe winter storm led to tens of thousands of power outages in a Mississippi county over the weekend, officials said.
More than 20,000 out of about 35,000 homes in Lafayette County had no power on Sunday night as a result of an ice storm and high winds, said Beau Moore, an emergency management officer there.
The area around Oxford, Miss., was especially hard hit. The National Weather Service received reports of nearly an inch of accumulated ice after freezing rain hit that area late Saturday, said Phil Baker, a meteorologist in the agency’s Memphis office.
Mayor Robyn Tannehill of Oxford said in an update posted to social media said that trees had fallen under the weight of ice and that power lines were down across the city of 26,000.
“Things went downhill quickly,” Mr. Baker said.
Temperatures were expected to drop to 7 degrees Fahrenheit overnight, he added, and the main concern was the safety of people dealing with the cold without power. Officials opened warming centers to accommodate as many residents without heat as possible.
Sheriff Joey East of Lafayette County said in a text message on Sunday night that conditions were “probably worse or as bad” as they were after a 1994 storm that left some in the region without power for weeks.
Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi said at a news conference that approximately 47 counties in the state had been impacted by the storm. State officials had requested generators and other supplies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency under a federal emergency declaration for the state signed by President Trump, he added.
“The weather is probably going to get worse before it gets better,” he said.
More than 150,000 electricity customers across Mississippi had no power as of early Monday morning, according to the site poweroutage.com.
The University of Mississippi, which is in Oxford, will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, and local public school districts will be closed all week.
Mr. Moore said that Lafayette County expected to see more downed trees, and that this could take down additional power lines. The county has hired private companies to help clear the roads, but he estimated that power outages would continue for at least another 48 hours. It could be another week before the county’s main roads are safe enough for travel.
Alan Blinder contributed reporting.
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