St. Louis Blues
290,000 Homes & Businesses Still In Dark Since July 19th Storm
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Play CBS Video Video St. Louis Still In The Dark As the nation deals with a relentless heat wave, St. Louis residents are facing their own crisis. As Kelly Cobiella reports, the city is enduring the worst power failure in its history.
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Video Powerless St. Louis Some New York residents have had no power for almost a week, but the worst blackout in the country is in St. Louis, where more than half the residents have no electricity. Kelly Cobiella reports.
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Video State Of Emergency In Missouri With a heat index of 112 degrees, Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency in St. Louis and called the Missouri National Guard to assist people in escaping the heat. KMOV's John Mills reports.
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A utility worker explained to a concerned (and livid) citizen: "I'm working 18, 19 hours a day and coming back and forth and my power's out so I understand." (CBS)
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Relief agencies are trying to fill the need for food both hot and cold, by handing out ice and some 90,000 meals. (CBS)
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The cooling waters from a fire hydrant provide some relief to some children in St. Louis, where a 5-day blackout made air-conditioning rare. (AP Photo/James A. Finley)
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One resident asked a utility worker: "Your power on yet?"
"I'm working 18, 19 hours a day and coming back and forth and my power's out so I understand," the worker replied.
CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports it is the worst power failure in this city's history. Last week's one-two weather punch - storms Wednesday and Friday - knocked out power to half a million customers during a heat wave.
For the hundreds of thousands of people waiting on repairs, food has gone bad and frustration is rising.
What have the past five days without power been like for a resident?
"Miserable. Just miserable," Learon Aaron said. "You can't find no ice, you can't find water, you know, everything is hard to find."
Relief agencies are trying to fill the need, handing out ice and some 90,000 meals.
There has been some progress: nursing homes and hospitals are back on-line.
And the lights are on again in some neighborhoods. But even those who are celebrating wonder why it took so long for help to reach them.
"We read in the paper they're going door to door, I'm like, 'they weren't knocking on our door for four days!'" Sharon Puder said.
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