72 HOURS AND COUNTING: POWER STILL OFF TO SOME

Although his home had been without electricity for 72 hours and counting Thursday afternoon, L.R. Burgfeld looked on the bright side.

With no electrical distractions, Burgfeld had time to cut the downed maple trees from his lawn at 1730 Georgia. Cut and neatly stacked at the edge of the street, Burgfeld was giving it away for firewood.

"It could be a lot worse," he said, taking a break from the yard work. "Think of those people overseas who are being bombed. We are fortunate to have a roof over us."

He and his wife have been eating out. They have water and a gas hot-water heater. "We work with flashlights and candles and go to bed early," he said.

Lost in his freezer were fish he had caught and a stockpile of frozen dinners purchased when Mr. K's closed.

"I've been kind of wanting those lights," Burgfeld said, "but I'd rather be without electricity than water."

Neighbors have been out helping each other tidy up limbs and lawns. They have also shared stories of where they were when the windstorm that caused all the trouble hit Monday afternoon.

"The trees were laying over, and we saw limbs in the air," Burgfeld said.

Around the corner at 1424 Blue Ridge, Charles Bostic was sitting on his front porch swing when the storm blew in. "When the tree limbs started touching the ground, I thought I'd better go inside," he said.

He was back on the porch four days later waiting for the power to return. Bostic was also monitoring two gas-powered generators he has been running almost around the clock.

A small generator is supplying power to the refrigerator. The larger generator is powering a deep freeze at his house and another at his son's house next door.

"Every two hours I switch to keep both freezers cold," he said.

Irene Bostic said the power outage hasn't caused many hardships. The stove and hot-water heater are gas; however, the dishwasher is full, and she hopes the power comes on before she has to break out the dish pan.

"And I think he does miss the TV and the computer," she said. "He watches the stock market all day long."

Instead, the Bostics have been sitting on the front porch swing reading the newspaper, listening to Paul Harvey on the radio and watching for repair crews.

"I've seen worse storms, but I've never seen so many trees down," he said.

Across the street at 1419 Rlue Ridge, Robert Dillon kept a watchful eye on the AmerenUE crew working on downed lines in his back yard.

"We gave some frozen food to a friend," he said. "We've got hot water and candles and lanterns. I think we are all pretty patient. It's clear these crews are all overworked. They were here clearing brush all night."

Of the original group of customers who lost power at 3 p.m. Monday, about 137 were still awaiting power late Thursday afternoon.

Other customers lost power some time following the storm when trees fell and caused additional outages. In one case, 1,000 customers lost power for a time Thursday morning, but the problem was corrected.

Doug Groesbeck, district manager for AmerenUE, said many of the remaining outages are single customers. A few larger pockets of outages also remained, he said.

Crews are working around the clock to correct the problems. Fifty construction crews and 18 tree-trimming crews are working. Many have been called in from the St. Louis area to help.

Gas service was returned Thursday afternoon to commercial customers in west Cape Girardeau. Water was purged from a gas line after it leaked during the storm.