Power was finally restored at my place at approximately 4 p.m. Monday, more than eight and a half days after it was knocked out by the ice storm. Unfortunately, there are others who are still without power.
The Joplin R-8 School District was back in session Monday. It felt good to get back to work and for once, the students were actually happy to be at school. About 25 percent of them still did not have power as of Monday morning and many had stayed in cold homes, without electricity and without generators. I would say closer to 70 percent of the students and teachers did not have power restored before the weekend.
It makes me wonder about the statistics Empire District Electric Company was throwing around. To give you an idea of how good Empire's public information spokeswoman Amy Bass is, just consider what you heard on the television and radio newscasts and read in the newspapers. It as always something like "less than 16,000 people are now without power." Not one said, "More than 15,000 people still do not have electricity."
When a crisis like this happens, why are the media settling on a p.r. person to provide information? When more than 60,000 are without power (and remember, we are talking about meters here, the number of people without power could very easily have been double or triple that amount), shouldn't the media be demanding comments from the head honcho? And if he does not want to comment, the media should make a note of that.
Jeff Wells, editor of Joplin Tri-State Business, said it best in his column in that publication's latest edition. I don't have it with me now so I will paraphrase. Wells complimented the work of those from Empire and other companies who have been working long hours to restore power, but he pointed out that questions need to be asked concerning why the company appeared to be so unprepared for the ice storm.
Hopefully, Joplin Tri-State Business, the Joplin Globe, and the rest of the media will keep digging until they find some answers.
Notice its the same thing in Springfield, Mo. after the blistering audit from the State of Missouri's auditor. You don't hear from the Mayor, the City Administrator, but you hear from some woman behind a desk that has a "move-in" accent. Its so easy for the head honchos to dodge the questions with these talking no nothings, and the news people let them get by with it. They should ask for the Mayor, the CEO, etc. and be sure to put on their news piece they declined to be interviewed.
ReplyDeleteMaybe PEOPLE should prune their tree's once in a while and cut down dead ones.
ReplyDeleteI love how the mayor went on KODE and said Empire wasn't to blame for the power outage. He sad maybe people should cut some trees. I've lost power for 10 days this year and I don't have a tree in my yard! I looked around my neighborhood that was without power for 4 days this time and didn't see a single tree on a line. Yes, it is the homeowners responsibility to trim lines to the house. It is Empire's responsibility to check the primary lines and make sure they are clear.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Tom, forget all that free market business. Empire does not participate in the free market. It is a government protected and regulated monopoly.
Empire had a lot to do with the trouble. Why can't we get information from them? Real information not the canned spam they put on the news. I want the truth did Empire's lack of tree trimming skills cause most of the problems? I know I trim my own trees on my side of the line but they are responsible for the main area. We need to hold them accountable to us, the folks who pay their way.
ReplyDeleteWhen your on day nine with no power and you call Empire they just say "Your on the list"...what "list"?? am I number 1204 on the list or number 10??? They won't say!!
ReplyDeleteWhine, whine, whine. I was without electricity just shy of two weeks in January.I lost it one day this time. Four or five days seems like just a heartbeat to me
ReplyDelete..I don't know of any New-Mac or Empire employee who wasn't on the job for long hours in either ice storm...and everywhere I go there were utility trucks and personnel from far away places here to help.
Do you guys know something thousands of people in the power business don't? If you have the magic wand, please share it with utility companies across this nation...as long, of course, as the "fix" doesn't cost anything...don't want to pay an extra couple of bucks each month to get the power to run my entire household...just give me the service but don't make me pay for it.
And darn those newspapers! They ought to talk to people who have all the answers - not those folks who live this job every day...what's the matter with those two-bit journalists? Be sure and pass your names along to the media outlets so they can get your expert opinons to share with the rest of us.
Real information would be nice. Other than, we are working on it, or the canned answers we get from the news. When you call you get a different answer every time, it's frustrating even for the most patient. We called at least once a day and on day 10 without power they stated, "we don't have a work order on you yet." For my elderly mother who just got out of the ICU, this is not what she wanted to hear. What does it take to get a work order. Should we move into Empire so that we are seen?
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