Utility companies are reporting far fewer issues with power outages than anticipated throughout the first day of a winter storm that has seen below-freezing temperatures and ice on roads and power lines.

“We’ve had about 500 people affected by breaker outages,” said Columbus Light and Water Interim Manager Mike Bernsen on Monday. “That’s a load issue. When the load gets too high it flips a breaker. We have to ride the lines to see where the issue is, but once we identify it, it’s a pretty quick fix. It doesn’t take too long to make the repair, but it seems when we get breaker outage repaired, we have two more called in.”

Otherwise, Bernsen said Monday had gone pretty well.

“It’s better than we thought it would be,” he said. “First, the storm came through a lot faster than was projected so it didn’t have a chance to freeze as heavy on the lines. We also had a good right-of-way program with cutting limbs back so that’s a nice improvement.”

Bernsen urged customers to keep thermostats as low as possible to reduce the strain on transformers, something that could help prevent more breaker-related outages.

Jon Turner, spokesman for 4-County Electric Power Association said crews were working to restore power to about 800 customers, mostly in Noxubee County and south Lowndes County, including parts of New Hope.

“We’re working as hard as we can to get those people service tonight, but really, we got kind of lucky,” Turner said. “We haven’t had as much accumulation as we expected.

“Because 4-County serves rural customers, the biggest issues are tree limbs falling on lines overloaded with ice,” he added. “Some parts of Noxubee and the southeast part of Lowndes County really did get a winter storm.”

Starkville Utilities Manager Terry Kemp said there had been no outages as of 4 p.m. Monday.

“We did have one water call, but other than that, it’s been very quiet,” he said. “Hopefully we can get through the night and into the day Tuesday without any more precipitation. We’ll probably start getting water calls on Wednesday as the thaw begins and people start having exposed pipes burst. … But for now, things are going really well.”

Sgt. Derrick Beckom, spokesperson for Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop G, said that traffic was light Monday, which greatly reduced accidents. By mid-day, Beckom said MHP had responded to just three accidents.

“They were all single-car accidents with no injuries,” Beckom said. “That tells me that people are staying off the roads, which is what we advise.”

Local law enforcement agencies have also been responding to accidents all day, primarily vehicles sliding off the roads, said Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton. The Dispatch will update with the number of accidents in Columbus, Starkville and West Point on Tuesday.

Shelton recommended that people do not drive unless absolutely necessary.

“If you have to go out and drive, be very careful,” he said. “The roads are really getting slick. As the temperature drops, there is going to be a lot of ice, which is going to be very dangerous.”

If someone has to go out and drive somewhere, Shelton recommends having a full tank of gas, a blanket and a flashlight in case of an emergency.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].