An estimated 8,000 homes and businesses in southwest Kansas are still without power following a weekend ice storm.
The outages are concentrated in a 9-county area around Dodge City. Outside contractors have been called in—both to help with power lines, and to trim broken trees that are interfering with the work.
Jerri Imgarten, of Victory Electric Cooperative, says as the ice melts and drops off of the power lines, those lines bounce and short circuit.
"It seems like we get one line back on, and something else happens somewhere, and takes some more people off, so it’s a vicious cycle of getting people on and then losing more people," Imgarten says.
An emergency shelter has been opened at Dodge City Community College for people needing a warm place to ride out the power outage.
