Hundreds more have electricity restored

Hundreds of people are entering day six without power today, although hundreds more saw a return of electricity Saturday.

While five companies made significant gains, the Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative, based in Dongola, Ill., struggled the most. As of 4 p.m. Saturday, 1,100 people remained in the dark, down only 100 from the previous evening.

"We have some places where crews have had to go in with boats because they can't get to them in their trucks. We're using log skidders on muddy terrain," said a spokesman for the cooperative, who said Saturday evening's rain could complicate matters.

More than 70 broken poles still needed to be replaced as of midday Saturday, according to the cooperative's Web site, and 80 crew members were working to restore power.

In Bollinger County, one of the areas hit hardest by Monday's ice storm, the Black River Electric Cooperative reduced the number of outages from 1,200 Friday to 200 Saturday afternoon.

At the height of the outages, 13,800 members lost power. The company's Web site warned repairs could stretch into this week as 25 broken poles still must be replaced.

SEMO Electric Cooperative restored power to 1,550 people Saturday. About 100 customers in Jackson and Gordonville and 150 more scattered around Advance, Mo., Bell City, Mo., and Bloomfield, Mo., were still without power.

"Two days were just horrible. It seemed like we'd get a line up and move on, and then the next thing we'd know something had brought it down again. But yesterday and today were great days. We brought in seven other crews," said Glen Cantrell, the communications manager for the cooperative.

Citizens Electric Cooperative, which serves northern Cape Girardeau County, had reduced its number affected by outages to single digits Saturday, and AmerenUE in Southeast Missouri and AmerenCIPS in Southern Illinois reported no customers without power.

In Jackson, public utilities officials announced all primary voltage lines had been restored, but about 24 service drops, which connect electrical lines from a utility pole to homes, are down. A news release from the city said the service drops "need to be repaired by property owners before the city can reconnect their line and restore power to their building."

Red Cross shelters were closed Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Marble Hill and at Immaculate Conception in Jackson. Cheryl Klueppel, executive director of the Southeast Missouri chapter, said only six people stayed at either location Friday night, and all had their power restored Saturday.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123