Glenallen resident still without power living in hotel with husband, dog

GLENALLEN, Mo. (KBSI) – Sara Sutter has been living in a hotel with her family since Wednesday’s tornado damaged their Glenallen home. 

“We have no power. With no power, we have no water because everybody out here is on a well,” she said.

Sutter had left for work about 20 minutes early to beat the storm while her husband Kian and their dog Molly rode out the storm in the bathtub. 

“He put on his tennis shoes and his bike helmet and grabbed a flashlight and the dog and jumped in the tub,” Sutter said.

The Sutters are one of almost 100 Black River Electric Cooperative members in Bollinger and Wayne counties without power as crews work vigorously to restore at least one sense of normalcy in the area. 

“You can’t hook up the front of my house because I have extensive electrical damage right now,” Sara Sutter said. “So, we’re going to try to hook up the garage so that at least gives us a little bit of electricity where we can turn the water on.” 

Sutter said the hotel has been fine, but it doesn’t feel like home. 

“We’re getting free meals, you know, they have free breakfast,” she said. “We get the happy our shindig from 5:30 to 7, so it hasn’t been too bad, but it’s not ours.” 

The Sutters are now using a beam from a car port that caved in the front of their house to hold up the living room ceiling. 

Add onto that significant exterior and roof damage, and the Sutter’s house won’t be suitable to live in for awhile. 

Sara and Kian’s son, Kaden, is in the Army and is stationed in Hawaii. And despite all the damage both inside and outside the home, the red, white and blue metal star on the front door did not budge.