Nearly 46,000 homes and businesses are still without electricity in Southeast Missouri. That means about two thirds of the homes and businesses that lost power during last Monday’s ice storm are back online.

Storm damage in SE Missouri Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Susie Stonner says 38 shelters are serving about 1,500 people. Stonner says most of them are coming in for warmth and food and water but are not spending the night.

Stonner says getting everyone powered up is a time-consuming process since many of the downed lines run long distances through rural areas and about 6,000 poles snapped under the weight of the ice.

Since the outage caused several water-treatment plants to shut down, there is a boil-water order in effect throughout several of the areas … Stonner says this is a safety precautionary measure since when the plants go down, there is always a chance that bacteria could contaminate the water lines.

Six highway fatalities as a result of the storm have been confirmed … there may be more deaths caused by the severe weather pending confirmation by the Department of Health and Senior Services.

A new situation report is expected to be out after noon today. To visit the most current report, visit the SEMA Web page here.

 

Susie Stonner, State Emergency Management Agency, gives a situation update