Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 22, 1994 TAG: 9402220129
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIAN VALLEY LENGTH: Medium
They now have power and water, and, thankfully, says 64-year-old Vasie Simpkins, her 85-year-old mother can breathe easier with an electric oxygen tank. She had been without it for those nine days.
"The power came back on sometime between 10:30 and [10:45]," Vasie Simpkins said.
The Simpkinses care for Vasie Simpkins' mother, Lettie Sutphin, who suffers from osteoporosis and severe arthritis. Sutphin also is recovering from a blood clot in one lung and double pneumonia. Because of her condition, she requires an electric oxygen tank to help her breathe. She had been using a limited supply of temporary oxygen tanks since the Feb. 11 ice storm pulled power lines down near the Simpkinses home.
Appalachian Power Co. offers a free service to customers who rely on life-support devices, called the "critical customer list." Customers who subscribe to this list are assured they will be given priority when power lines are repaired.
The Simpkinses were on this list, yet they watched for days as friends and neighbors received power while they were left in the dark. Phone calls and a visit to one of the Apco offices did no good.
When Apco officials were told Friday by the Roanoke Times & World-News that the Simpkinses still were without power, crews immediately were sent to the area.
Glenda Wohlford, administrative assistant for Apco's Pulaski division, said Friday " . . . Right now, we have a backhoe and bulldozers down there . . . We have six crews now in Indian Valley and two crews on the way."
Vasie Simpkins is grateful to have the power back. Not only was she worried about the oxygen tanks, but her mother's room was so cold at night she feared the elderly woman would come down with another case of pneumonia.
by CNB