Stoddard County deals with morning outages

DEXTER, Mo. — Stoddard County awoke to a blanket of ice and snow Tuesday morning, with a promise of more to come throughout the day and through Wednesday.

All county schools were closed, as was O.A.K.S. Senior Center and Stoddard County Transit.

Dexter school superintendent Dr. Ken Jackson made the call to close the city's schools around 8 p.m. Monday night, with the forecast calling for further layers of ice and snow to hit before the storm's end.

Dexter's street department crews were out and about throughout the night in an effort to keep up with the accumulation of ice on city streets. Streets were maneuverable in the early morning hours, but drivers were urged to use extreme caution.

The area remains under a winter storm warning until 6 a.m. Wednesday, with additional freezing rain and ice to accumulate to a quarter to one-half inch throughout Tuesday and into the overnight hours.

According to Larry Stone with the local AmerenUE office in Dexter, power outages were reported all over town by daylight Tuesday. By 8:30 a.m., power had been restored to 85 of the 365 Ameren customers whose power was knocked out as a result of downed wires in Dexter.

"We had only a couple of poles broken in the city," Stone says. "Nearly all of the outages are coming from the weight of the ice on power lines."

Stone confirmed that while most of the outages were within the city limits, about 25 residents were without power along County Roads 716 and 624.

To aid local utility crews in restoring power to local residents, and in anticipation of what is to come overnight, support crews from as far away as St. Louis, Potosi and St. Francis County are on their way to Dexter. Stone estimates that between 25 and 30 crews were headed to the area Tuesday morning, expected to arrive by about 10 a.m.

Customers of Ozark Border Electric north of Dexter were also reportedly without power as of around 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Dexter Fire Chief Al Banken urges area residents to always be prepared for the type of storm that has slammed the area.

"Residents should always have plenty of flashlights on hand to power radios for information about storm systems," Banken says, and he adds, "Plenty of canned food items should be kept on hand, as well as bottled water and first aid kits."

Banken also warns residents, especially seniors, to be sure to have a supply of needed medications on hand, should the ice and snow prohibit travel for days at a time.

Candles and lighters should also be kept close at hand, Banken says.

Stoddard County Emergency Management System's director, John Prance, warns county residents that by the time the current storm system moves through the area on Wednesday, it may be the "storm of the decade".