POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KFVS) -
Nearly 1,500 phone calls came in to the Poplar Bluff office of the Ozark Border Electric Co-op since Thursday at noon.
Yesterday's winter storm caused blown transformers, downed power lines, and power outages that affected 7,500 customers.
"Our goal, and we think we're going to be pretty close to it, is to have everyone on by dark tonight," said Ozark Border General Manager Stanley Estes.
Estes says his crews have been out repairing lines since the first power outage was reported just before 1:00 Thursday afternoon.
And as the reports of damage began to pile up, they had to call for reinforcements.
"We did get 12 individual linemen from other co-ops today, and they're going to help us quite a bit," Estes said.
Some of those other linemen came from as far away as Springfield, MO.
John Carter, a veteran lineman, says the reason power isn't restored as quickly during ice storms compared to summer thunderstorms is that the ice presents a few more challenges.
"If there's ice on the line, it makes it a little harder," Carter said. "Of course, most of the time you'll be able to jar it loose unless it's frozen on there really hard."
Ozark Border expects to have power restored to all customers Friday night.
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