POWER OUTAGE STRIKES JACKSON

JACKSON -- A power outage caused by an early morning thunderstorm left the city of Jackson without electricity for nearly an hour and a half Monday.

Lightning struck one of the power lines near Bellevue and Adams streets at 6:55 a.m., according to City Administrator Steve Wilson. Many people reported the outage to the 24-hour emergency line at City Hall and to the Jackson Police Department.

The outage occurred near the tail end of the storm.

"I don't recall a lightning strike like this with the end result in the last several years," said Wilson. "It just shows you how powerful Mother Nature is."

Many customers were out of luck at Hardee's in Jackson, which had to close its doors for nearly an hour and a half.

"You can't serve food with no grill," said Hardee's manager Shelly Brantley.

Jerry Thorne, owner of Jer's Restaurant, was also unable to serve his regular customers due to the power outage. Although he didn't close down, he was unable to serve food for over an hour. He said a power outage as long as Monday's doesn't happen too often and he was pleased with the city's response.

"Generally, they're right on top of everything," Thorne said.

Power was restored in some parts of the city within 20 minutes and to the rest of the city within an hour and 20 minutes.