(Staff Photo/TERRY L. MAY)
As residents across the Tug and Big Sandy Valleys lost electricity, lines formed at every gas station — like the Belfry, Ky., 7-11 Marathon — that had kerosene in an effort to stay warm as last week’s winter storm played out. Hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia were without power as a result of the storm, and many are still waiting for electricity.
Some customers were still without electricity Monday night after a weekend storm dumped more than a foot of snow across the East Coast.
As of 6:30 p.m. Monday, Appalachian Power reported nearly 83,000 outages in West Virginia and about 34,000 in Virginia.
The company hopes to restore power to most customers early in the week, but some may be out until Friday. Appalachian Power spokesman Phil Moye blamed damaged transmission lines in hard-to-reach areas and widespread damage.
Allegheny Energy reported 17,642 outages late Monday. It expects to restore electricity to all customers by midnight Wednesday.
What never gets mentioned is that they do that because they don't have the manpower locally to take care of the problems. I suspect they have cut many jobs locally and therefore MUST rely on those out of state crews to get the work done. I would be interested in hearing just how many line crews work out of Williamson, how many area servicemen and where are they stationed.
Makes you wonder just what those outrageously high electric bills are paying for. It certainly isn't for the men and the jobs needed to keep our electricity constant, even in times of crisis.