SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn. — Following East Tennessee’s first snowfall of the new year, thousands of people still did not have power in Sevier County Tuesday evening while emergency crews continued working to get the lights back on.
Roughly 15,000 people in Sevier County were without power after a winter storm swept through the area Monday morning.
According to Sevier Co. Electric Systems, the outages began at 6 a.m. Monday with 55 percent of customers without power. General Manager Allen Robbins said it was the largest outage in the area he can recall.
Some homes are still going without power in below-freezing temperatures. Now more people in that area say they're running into another problem — generators are in short supply.
Across the county on Tuesday, Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart all said they were sold out. We also asked Direct Tools Factory Outlet, Tractor Supply Co. and Harbor Freight tools, all saying they sold out on Monday.
O’Reilly Auto Parts confirmed at 4 p.m. Tuesday it had one gas generator left in stock.
It's been roughly 42 hours since Robin Frankenberg has had power in her Severe County Home.
"Yeah, so it's just a waiting game," she said. "It's a hassle all the way around."
She is one of the thousands of customers across the region who lost their electricity following the storm, which downed many trees and power lines.
"We knew the snow was coming but everybody's like, 'Oh it's been too warm, it's not going to do anything.' Well, I woke up the next morning with no power and a bunch of snow on the ground. We didn't have nothing," Frankenberg said. "You don't think about buying a generator until you have no power."
She said she couldn't find one for sale. Now, she is paying $60 per day to rent a generator. She said that if she rents it for three or four days, she will have spent the same amount as if she had bought it.
In the meantime, she said she is still struggling with limited power. She can't wash her laundry and can't cook a meal. Her biggest concern though she said, is her father-in-law's health.
"He requires oxygen, which requires power," Frankenberg said. "I mean he has his tanks but he's about to be out of that. We had to rent a generator today just to get him oxygen."
Even after renting a generator, Frankenberg said it would be best to have their power back on.
"To us, the air doesn't seem different but to him, it's definitely different. He has a harder time having to breathe with having to use a kerosene heater over having power with central heat, of course," she said.
The same thing happened to her family last year during Christmas. She and her husband, three boys and three dogs were without power for around 5 days.
"Power doesn't go out that often so you don't think, 'Oh what if it happens again?' Yeah, we're not very prepared," she said.
Crews said it will take a couple of days to restore power because of the amount of damage. They said they have more crews coming to help while also preparing for another expected winter storm on Thursday.
As the potential for another winter weather event creeps back into our region, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is asking drivers to prepare if they have to drive, saying to give extra braking room and take it slow over bridges.
A spokesperson for TDOT said workers are doing all they can to keep the roads safe.