3,400 without power in Bollinger County

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Much of Bollinger County remained ice-covered and dark Thursday, as 3,400 people still did not have power as of just before 6 p.m.

According to Black River Electric dispatch manager Keith Meyers, it was difficult to predict when power would be restored.

Missouri Department of Transportation crews worked on keeping up with removing fallen trees and debris from lettered roads and state highways, even as the weight of the ice combined with high winds cause even more tree limbs and power lines to break, said Tom Binnie, with the Marble Hill Fire and Rescue Command Center set up at city hall.

Highways 34 and 51 were fairly clear by Thursday, and the Department of Conservation had five teams working on Bollinger County gravel roads starting Wednesday morning, Binnie said.

At first the Department of Conservation crews used to their bulldozers to push trees to the side so four-wheel-drive vehicles could get through to rescue those trapped in their homes on rural routes, but Thursday morning they began using blades on the ice to break up the slick surface so trucks and emergency vehicles could get through.

"There wasn't a road in Bollinger County that wasn't affected, said Gary Shrum, city administrator for Marble Hill.

Trees and power lines provided the biggest obstacles for people trying to get around, Shrum said. Slick roads were responsible for several traffic accidents, none of them serious, and most of them sightseers looking at the damage, he said.

"Anytime you have you have a disaster, you're going to have sightseers," he said.

Emergency vehicles continued to respond to a handful of calls Thursday, as many people needed help getting medications, Binnie said.

Fran Wessel and her husband, Leon, were rescued from their powerless home on a county road Tuesday, and the emergency vehicle had to cut through the fields to get to the couple, Wessel said.

Wessel was recovering from a bout of pneumonia, and suffers from bronchial asthma, two conditions aggravated by the cold, she said.

They had been staying with friends until their power was also knocked out. Wednesday afternoon Wessel's husband said "you've got to get out of this cold," she said.

They sought refuge at the American Red Cross shelter established at the First Baptist Church in Marble Hill.

Food from Jackson

Food prepared every night by the women of the First Baptist Church has been brought to the shelter from the Red Cross facility established at Immaculate Conception Church in Jackson, said Red Cross spokesman Tom Metheny.

Metheny and his wife, Beth, took charge of organizing the Marble Hill shelter after he had to "cut their way out" of their Route B residence Tuesday, and off-road part of the way around a fallen tree limb, he said.

Wednesday night, about 20 Bollinger County residents slept on cots in the gym of the First Baptist Church, Metheny said.

About 25 people have been eating their meals there, Metheny said, because although many have heat from wood-burning stoves, they have no way of preparing meals.

The shelter has provided warmth and comfort for those who have been without power as long as Monday, Wessel said.

"Everyone's in the same predicament," she said.

Although the First Baptist Church has been designated as the only warming center in Bollinger County, about 15 people took refuge during the worst part of the storm in the Woodland Hotel and Steak House on Main Street, owner Bill Zorbas said.

Zorbas has 18 rooms available in the hotel, and all were booked solid during the ice storm, so they opened the restaurant as a temporary warming center, he said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245