Monday's power outage shuts down several Red Oak businesses

If someone needed to buy gas, an ice cream cone, pizza or wanted to rent a movie at most businesses along Broadway after 5:47 p.m. on Monday, June 29, they were out of luck.

BP, Casey’s at Broadway and Oak Streets, and Cubby’s were without power and could not pump gas or use their cash registers.

Dairy Queen only sold about $10 in pre-frozen products and Pizza Ranch had to turn customers away and send workers home.

Sally Adams, evening manager at BP, said, “We lost everything, pumps, inside, too. We couldn’t sell because if we lose power, we lock the store to keep the store cool and the coolers closed. When (the power) came on, I got pumps running, but a power surge blew out my monitor for the cash register.”

Lindsay Jones is a clerk at Casey’s General Store at 1310 North Broadway. When the power went out, pumps could not dispense gas, so the store was closed.

At the north end of Broadway, Brittany Kaufman clerks at the deli at the 24/7 Cubby’s gas station with a deli and pizza restaurant.

“We didn’t close the store, we just closed the deli early. We couldn’t pump gas or sell anything because the registers were down. We sold a couple things because we knew the price and the customer had exact change.”

Jennifer Koppa, Dairy Queen’s manager, kept her business open, hoping the power would come back on. When it did, most customers had traveled elsewhere.

“We stayed open but we had no business. We had to keep everything closed. We only sold about $10 worth of pre-made ice cream, like ice cream sandwiches and that kind of thing.”

Ron Knight, who manages Pizza Ranch, estimates his restaurant lost several hundred dollars from customers they had to turn away. His employees lost wages, too, because he sent several home.

Knight said their battery powered backup system lets them finish the business they’re conducting.

“It lasts about 15 minutes, but our ovens can’t work,” Knight said.

The power came back on at 7:31 p.m., but by then, most of Broadway’s potential customers had made other plans.

“There wasn’t much sense in opening the buffet (then),” Knight said.

Customers turned away from service stations and restaurants didn’t pick up a movie and head home. At least they didn’t pick one up at Movie Gallery at 1515 North Boardway.

“We can’t run the cash register or let any one rent a movie when we lose power,” Movie Gallery Manager Wendy Fisher said. “We have to get into the accounts and we can’t do that without power. We just closed while the power was out.”

She estimated rentals during what is typically their rush hour would totally about $200-$300 dollars. When they re-opened, they had a couple customers, but she figures most would-be renters didn’t know they had power after 7:30 p.m.

Grocery shoppers at Hy-Vee and Fareway did notice the power outage.

Mike Webb, Hy-Vee’s new store manager said, “Mid-America did a great job. They identified (the cause) well and got it back up.”

Mid-America’s Media Relations Director Ann Thelen said a primary line went down, likely weakened in recent storms.

Webb said, “We are blessed with having generators that keep everything going.”

Assistant Manager Jim Hansen said the generators are serviced regularly and the store had no change other than being a little darker than usual.

In an effort not to overload the generators, non-essential lights are not powered up at Hy-Vee according to Webb.

Fareway was affected by the power outage as well.

When last Tuesday morning rolled around, the courthouse’s computers let workers know there had been a power outage.

Montgomery County Auditor Joni Ernst said the outage reaffirms the need for a generator at the courthouse.

Emergency Manager Kevin Norris has been trying to find funding for a generator since taking on the job just over a year ago. So far he’s found a grant to cover about 15 percent of the estimated $26,000 needed to the emergency system.

The computers have battery backup, but the batteries don’t last long enough to keep computers working properly.

“We did not lose any information, but when there are storms or other weather related conditions that shut off the power, our computers can’t continue working,” Ernst said.

Mid-America officials reported 739 customers in Red Oak were without electricity from 5:47 – 7:31 p.m.

Public Relations Director Dave Jennings reported Montgomery County Memorial Hospital was not affected.

“We have emergency generators that kick in within seconds,” Jennings said. He had heard of no complaints about the hospital’s service that evening.