Another dose of wintry weather forced the closure of several businesses Jan. 10.
Black River Electric Cooperative reported that as of Sunday, Jan. 12 it had restored power to all members who lost it due to ice Jan. 5.
"Black River Electric Cooperative and crews from visiting cooperatives had restored power to all members by Saturday evening, after Winter Storm Blair covered the region with half an inch of ice Sunday, January 5th, leaving 12,000 members without power," the cooperative said in a statement. "Across the system crews found ice laden trees, damage to power lines and 80 broken poles. Restorations efforts hit a snag on Friday (Jan. 10) as a second Winter Storm, Cora, left a 6-inch blanket of snow on top of the ice, causing additional outages.
BREC General Manager Paul Montgomery was grateful for the outpouring of support, “It encourages me to think of one of the seven cooperative principles in trying moments like these. Through the spirit of 'cooperation among cooperatives,' we were able to overcome challenges together. We deeply appreciate the invaluable support we've received from our fellow cooperatives for sending their resources, as well as our partnering line and right of way contractors in our time of need. I am thankful for our membership which has been openly supportive, whether it be a lending hand, cup of warm coffee, or an encouraging word to our lineworkers and support staff.”
207 lineworkers and support staff worked tirelessly, nearly 25,000 hours of labor, to restore power to BREC members. 132 of them were mutual aid lineworkers, contractors and tree crews from outside the area. Lineworkers from Ozark Border Electric Cooperative, Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative, White River Valley Electric Cooperative, SEMO Electric Cooperative, Pemiscot Dunklin Electric Cooperative, Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Southwest Electric Cooperative, Ozark Electric Cooperative, Gascosage Electric Cooperative, Webster Electric Cooperative and SE-MA-NO Electric Cooperative came to our aid, and we can’t thank them enough.
School closures
For those who were thinking about attending school for the first time in 2025, those plans in many instances were pushed back a little further as a snowstorm prompted another round of cancellations.
Many area school school districts, including those in Bollinger County, were scheduled to start holding classes Monday, Jan. 6. However, Winter Storm Blair prevented the original 2025 start date.
Meadow Heights, Woodland, Leopold and Zalma all were out of school Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 13 and 14, following the Jan. 10 snowstorm.