Power returns to area slowly

Power is beginning to return in small areas of Sikeston, and ice continues to damage Board of Municipal Utilities equipment. The same is true for other rural electric providers and for AmerenUE.

Wayne McSpadden, operations manager for the Sikeston Board of Municipal Utilities, said repairs are frustratingly slow and hampered by ice.

"It's slow," he said. "But we've got a couple gas stations open in one part of town and a grocery store at the other end of town."

He said the priority is getting power to the most people as quickly as possible; restoring electric service to the Missouri Delta Medical Center will take "a day or two" longer.

Thursday afternoon, Gov. Jay Nixon added 50 Missouri National Guard soldiers to the 100 assigned to help with the power restoration efforts in Southeast Missouri. The guardsmen will remain in the area until relieved by the governor and local authorities. The guardsmen are clearing roads in Charleston, Portageville and Sikeston or going door to door for citizen safety and supply checks.

About 108,000 electrical customers were without power Thursday night in Missouri, according to utility companies and the State Emergency Management Agency, which also reported 33 shelters open as of late afternoon. Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Tim Hull urged people facing an extended power outage to find a warm location.

Six deaths related to the storm have been reported in Missouri since Monday.

The massive outage has taxed utility crews, who are working 18 hours a day, McSpadden said. Twenty contracted linemen were expected to arrive by Thursday evening to speed repairs.

Thursday evening, the Sikeston Department of Safety restricted large vehicles, which have hit low-slung power lines and disrupted service.

AmerenUE said it could be at least a week before electricity is restored to those affected by the storm.

AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said the power company has pulled 800 more workers from other states to help return power to Southeast Missouri, bringing that total to 2,300 total linemen, tree trimmers, support staffers, field checkers and supervisors. He said more than 800 poles and hundreds of power lines were downed by Monday's storm.

Smaller utility companies faced setbacks as ice fell and lines failed for other reasons. Transformer failures caused SEMO Electric Cooperative outages to rise to 14,000, though that figure fell to 10,500 by late Thursday evening. Ozark Border Electric Cooperative's outages increased to nearly 20,000 from a low of 15,000.

MoDOT placed electronic signs along Interstate 55 southbound warning motorists that exit 99 -- Center Junction -- was the last chance for food and gas for those headed south, since convenience stores south of Cape Girardeau are largely without electricity, said MoDOT southeast district spokeswoman Nicole Thieret.

Other counties without power include Dunklin, with 33 percent, or 1,080 customers.

Cape Girardeau outages were reduced to 36 from a morning high of 614.

In Southern Illinois, just four AmerenCIPS customers in Alexander County were without power while all but three customers in Union County had electricity.

Only one Jackson customer lost power after a connection froze and broke, but it was quickly repaired, according to Jackson utilities director Don Schuette.

Black River Electric Cooperative reported no power outages but lent 12 workers to Southeast Missouri rural cooperatives. The same was true for Citizens Electric Cooperative, which also lent out 12 workers. No injuries have been reported among the thousands of utility workers on duty.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

388-3646

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628