Patience tested in Memphis as power outage hits day 6

MEMPHIS -- Some of the 82,000 Memphis residents still without power have to laugh so they won't cry.

It's been six days in the dark for some, six days of mounting irritation, since strong storms swept through the area July 22 and knocked out power to more than 300,000 people.

The constant drone of generators is putting Bill Wright, 54, on edge.

"It's kind of aggravation on top of aggravation," said Wright, who woke up at 3 a.m. Sunday to what sounded like a riding lawn mower. "I've tried industrial ear plugs and stereo headphones. Nothing works."

Like many, Wright was also puzzled that Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division is posting a list of repair areas on its Web site.

"Great. Why don't I just look on my computer?" he said. "Oh wait, I don't have power!"

The Commercial Appeal received dozens of calls from readers making the same point.

Gordon Alexander, 55, said he appreciates the MLGW crews working hard to get the power on and the laugh he got when he read about the Web site.

'Just the way it is'

Most people are being patient, said MLGW senior communications specialist Glen Thomas. And the crews will work around the clock until everyone is powered up.

"This is just the way it is. You have 200,000 happy people with power and 100,000 angry people without it," he said.

MLGW has received many calls from people with computer access thanking them for posting the list of areas being repaired. Even though many say the list is too vague, the locations are as specific as they can be, Thomas said.

"It's almost impossible to give an exact intersection," he said. "It's hard to pinpoint things like this, and it's hard for people to understand that we can't pinpoint it."

Circuits don't run like roads, he said. Just because a road is being worked on doesn't mean all the houses on it will get their power back at the same time.

The crews are working first on the largest circuits -- some with 2,000 homes -- to get the greatest amount of people up in the shortest amount of time, he said. Then they are moving to smaller circuits then to individual outages.

Nearly 1,000 utility poles still need to be reset. Doing so is not a quick process, Thomas said.

MLGW issued a request Sunday for all people with power to leave their porch lights on so crews can point out more quickly individuals without electricity.

The next challenge for the city will be cleaning up the debris around town, said Joe Lowry, emergency planning officer with the Emergency Management Agency.

But Lowry's priority Sunday was feeding people who hadn't had a meal in days. EMA also issued about 130 generators purchased by the city for people with the greatest needs - those who use breathing machines or need other special care.

For many, the generators are lifesavers, and those without them are heading to shelters, Lowry said.

However, a 17-month-old child and a 73-year-old man have died because carbon monoxide poisoning from generators. So far, six people have died from the storm or storm-related incidents.

'A cash cow'

A wave of people who couldn't handle the heat hit emergency shelters over the weekend.

Kimberly Lawson, 37, and her four children went to a shelter Sunday night after a bad experience at a hotel Saturday.

She expected to pay about $55 with her AAA discount but ended up paying closer to $100 out of desperation. "I guess they saw this situation as a cash cow," she said.

Best Inns assistant manager Lori Smith said the hotel is not taking advantage of people.

"We're not raising our prices like everyone else," she said. "We're just not taking discounts."