Crews restore power to thousands in Missouri as new snow falls

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Utility crews continued working late Friday and Saturday in a new snowstorm to restore power to thousands of Missourians who lost power in an earlier ice storm.

The two major utilities with outages in southwest Missouri and north of Kansas City had about 27,000 customers still off the grid Saturday. At the peak of the ice damage Tuesday, more than 165,000 customers lost power in southwestern, northwestern and central Missouri.

Al Butkus, spokesman for Aquila Inc., said Saturday that 54,000 customers had their power restored from the height of the ice storm. About 12,000 still didn't have power Saturday, mostly in the St. Joseph area in northwest Missouri.

"We're working our way through the snow," he said. "We'll make some progress each day, but you know we get down to the last few and they always take the longest."

Aquila hoped to have all power restored by Monday evening, Butkus said.

In the Joplin area, Empire District Electric Co. reported 15,000 customers without power Saturday, but said crews were working through the weekend snow.

The snowstorm that hit late Friday and Saturday left about 2 to 4 inches of new snow across most of Missouri, said Butch Dye with the National Weather Service outside St. Louis.

"Across the southern portion where it's warmer, it's just getting rain," Dye said.

The Missouri National Guard has personnel in northwest Missouri conducting wellness checks and delivering generators, said Capt. Tammy Spicer, guard spokeswoman. But she said Saturday there have been no new missions because of the new snow.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for east-central Missouri until midnight.

"Snow is not a problem for power lines like ice is. But it's no fun to work in," said Jim McCarty from the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.

St. Louis-based AmerenUE earlier reported all of its customers in central Missouri were back online.

State officials also dispatched medical teams including nurses and paramedics to help in three shelters for people with special needs in northwest Missouri, Gov. Matt Blunt's office said.