Ice storms in Southeast Missouri seem like distant history
by Alex Johnson, posted May 1, 2009
In mid-Febuary, southeast Missouri experienced an ice storm that took out power in 36,000 homes, business and schools. People of the area are grateful now to have warmer weather, powered homes and the ability to work and attend school.
"We heard that due to the ice damage, that school could be extended in our area almost until June," said Angela Mims, high school senior. "I had to miss work and school. There really was nothing I could do but sit and wait."
The area was damaged so badly that Congress authorized federal disaster relief money to help speed up the recovery. After the storm, workers for Ameren UE spent about a week repairing the electrical damage.
"One of our executives called it some of the worst damage we had ever seen. We had 4,000 individuals engaged in the rescue effort; 2,400 of them were linemen in the field," said Susan Gallagher, spokesperson of Ameron UE. "Pretty much everything is cleaned up, yet there are always things that may need work. They tried to make all repairs permanent instead of temporary so it wouldn't happen again."
The residents of southeast Missouri welcomed the Ameren UE workers. Residents, along with the Ameren UE workers, joined together to help one another during the aftermath of the ice storm.
"[The people of southeast Missouri] were incredibly kind. Several hotels and schools allowed us to stay. They worked with us to get lunches and they were incredibly hospitable," Gallagher said. "It's very hard to be that kind in this situation and people would meet our crews with coffee and doughnuts. They were amazing."
Now that southeast Missouri has power, residents have returned to their weekly routines of life. Businesses are open and schools have created a new plan for the rest of their academic year.
"This was a school vacation that I did not want to have," Mims said. "So far we will only have to make up half of the days we missed after school was supposed to let out. I'm just ready to graduate already!"
