Severe thunderstorms swept across the central Gulf Coast Thursday afternoon, triggering a tornado warning in Baldwin County and knocking out power to hundreds of homes and businesses across South Alabama and into southeastern Mississippi.
As of 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, utility companies had reported a combined 747 power outages across Mobile County, Baldwin County, and Greene County, Mississippi, according to outage tracking from the affected utilities.
The hardest-hit area was North Baldwin County, where Baldwin EMC reported at least 476 outages. The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for that part of the county as the line of storms moved through, prompting residents to take shelter before the warning was allowed to expire.
Alabama Power reported at least 136 separate outages affecting roughly 1,726 customers as of 4:18 p.m. Thursday. Across the state line in Mississippi, Singing River Utilities reported 135 outages in and around Lucedale, in Greene County.
Tornado Warning Has Since Been Lifted
The tornado warning that prompted the initial wave of shelter-in-place alerts across Baldwin County has since been lifted, though crews with each of the affected utilities were continuing to assess damage and restore service Thursday evening.
Power outages during severe weather events like this one are typically caused by high winds snapping tree limbs onto power lines, lightning strikes on transformers and substations, or straight-line wind gusts associated with the storm cells moving through the area. Utility crews generally prioritize restoring power to critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water treatment facilities first, before moving to residential neighborhoods.
Residents who lost power were urged to report outages directly to their utility provider and to steer clear of any downed lines, which should always be treated as energized and dangerous regardless of whether the outage has been confirmed.
This is a developing story. Southalnews.com will update this report as more information becomes available from Baldwin EMC, Alabama Power, and Singing River Utilities.
Viewer Video Captures Tornado Near Bay Minette
A viewer submitted video of a tornado crossing the Tensaw River just southwest of Bay Minette during Thursday’s storms. The tornado developed shortly after 4 p.m., was radar-confirmed and was tracked live as it moved through the area.
The footage corresponds to the same window in which Baldwin EMC reported the heaviest concentration of outages in North Baldwin County, and to the tornado warning the National Weather Service issued for that portion of the county before allowing it to expire.