Several homes in the country of Cape County are still without power

CAPE GIRARDEAU Mo. (KBSI) – This past weekend stalled life as we know it for thousands. Some say they are fortunate to get their power back on, but others continue to wait. 

Homes have coolers sitting in the living room trying to keep food cold, water jugs filled with filtered water, and even the bathtub filled with water as people are trying to stay hydrated and clean. 

Most of the remote customers of Citizens Electric are still waiting for their heat and lights to come back on. 

“Power went off Sunday night at 11p.m,” said Reed. 

The Reeds are among those customers living out in a remote part of Cape County. They say they have experienced ice storms and power outages but nothing quite like this. 

“Yes, but not this bad,” said Reed. 

Cheri Reed says she and her neighbors were without power for days due to trees collapsing and taking power lines with it but now she has a reason to be thankful. 

“And didn’t come back on until today at 2:45 pm, today, Wednesday,” said Reed. 

Reed says it was a struggle to live for several days without power, but she was thankful they had a wood burning fireplace in her bedroom and living room to bring some heat in. Unfortunately, she knows not everyone was as lucky.

“We have some close neighbors. They are all involved in the same line. And evidently, our situation was somewhat complicated because of the terrain,” said Reed. 

Overall people say they remain patient knowing that they are not alone, and they know power crews are giving it their all. 

“We had major damage from trees falling over and taking out power lines and the power poles, and, plus citizens were dealing with, you know, over 10,000 people out of power.

We talked to J.W. Hackworth with citizens electric and he says it’s all hands-on deck until power is restored. 

“We started at around 3800. So, we’ve made some, some good progress today. And we made good progress overnight as well. So, we’re, you know, continuing to move forward with, with getting people, you know, getting our members back on and getting our lines repaired and, and everything that that needs to occur,” said Hackworth. 

Crew members are taking on a variety of roles to fix this issue. 

“We have 30 tree trimmers that are out. And then we have more than 40 logistical folks supporting that effort as well. So, well in excess of 200, folks that are, that are working on this,” said Hackworth. 

As for the Reed household they say they know winter is just beginning and they will get through whatever mother nature has in store. 

“Well, we have food. We have water. I guess we’ll just do what we’ve done. And that depends on Citizen Electric to get us going again. They’ve been doing it ever since, 82. So, I trust them 100%,” said Reed.