Sep 18, 2008

Many Douglas County residents came as close they will ever come to experiencing a hurricane last Sunday morning as remnants of Hurricane Ike moved through the Ozarks. As the storm system moved northward, bringing with it heavy rains, the storm system collided with a cold front moving down from the north creating treacherous weather conditions. Downed trees blocked roads and took out numerous power lines, disrupting electrical service to thousands of customers across a wide area. Much of the city of Ava was without power Sunday morning, and White River Valley Electric Cooperative reported as many as 16,000 customers in Douglas, Ozark, Christian, Stone and Taney counties were without power Sunday. By 8 a.m. Monday, the co-op reported around 2,800 customers were still without power, and by 8 a.m. Tuesday the number had been whittled down to about 350 customers without power in the five counties. At that time, most main lines were repaired and crews were working on individual outages, according to Amy Rosier at the Branson office. It is believed that all electricity has been restored at this time. However, if you are still without power you should call the toll-free number, 1-800-695-0056, to report your problem. The strong, straight-line wind blasted Ava right around 4 a.m. and as limbs and trees came down, so did the power lines. The Ava Electric Department immediately went to work, although hampered by heavy rain and strong, gusty winds, and had most if not all of the power restored by noon Sunday. Many area churches had to dismiss their Sunday services, or make alternate arrangements to worship, due to the lack of electrical service. Along with electric lines, telephone lines were also downed across a wide area, and linemen with CenturyTel were still working in rural areas of the county Wednesday finding and repairing phone lines. Ava technician Billy Long said in some areas the only way to find the problem is to start walking out the lines through the woods until the downed line is located. Along with the wind damage, the area received over 4 inches of rain, much of it falling in a short time, causing severe cases of flooding throughout the area. Storm damage was reported across a wide area of the region. In Norwood, the roof was peeled off a section of the elementary school, exposing the classrooms to extensive damage from the heavy rain. Classes were canceled there on Monday so repairs could be made. Classes were also canceled at Skyline R-2 School in Douglas County, south of Norwood, because of downed power lines. Intercounty Electric Cooperative, which serves customers in Dent, Texas and Phelps counties, reported as many as 6,000 customers without power following the storm, according to the Salem News on Tuesday. The West Plains Daily Quill reported that 7,400 customers of Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative lost power in the storm. And the Mountain Grove News-Journal said Se-Ma-No Electric, which serves customers in Wright, Douglas, Webster and Texas counties, had two substations down, leaving approximately 2,000 customers without power in the wake of the storm.