Chickens worry of Sandtown farmer

Sheila Blount can’t wait for hot water because it’s been almost a week. “I am really looking forward to a hot shower when the power is restored,” she said Tuesday from work.

The Blounts, who live in the Spring Creek community, were among the 15 percent in rural Neshoba County who were still without power Tuesday after winter storms brutalized the region last week.

Danny Robertson rode out most of the winter storm on their farm at Sandtown three miles from home taking care of their six chicken houses because the roads were impassable.

“The biggest problem was probably not living right next to the farm,” Robertson said, adding they had to keep generators running but did not lose any chickens.

“We were fortunate,” Robertson said. “We came out of this real lucky that we just lost power.”

His wife Karri Robertson was at work on Tuesday and got a text message about noon that they had just received power — 10 days after the first storm hit on Feb. 14.

“I think all the linemen did a wonderful job getting the power restored,” Robertson said. “It has been a struggle but we made do the best we could.”

When Karri Robertson left for work at The Citizens Bank on Tuesday morning she said she knew crews were working in the area but was not sure when they would get to her.

Robertson said they lost power on Feb. 15, and the power was restored briefly on Wednesday for an hour and half but went out again. 

The real worry for them was their chicken farm.

Sheila Blount is the secretary at The First United Methodist Church and described the power situation as “frustrating and inconvenient,” but she knows linemen are working hard to restore power.  

They lost power last Wednesday evening and as of midday Tuesday still had no power. 

Blount said she has a power line down in her yard and her mother-in-law’s  across the street has a line that runs only to her house down as well. 

She said she suspects they will be among the last people to get power in their area as crews work to fix the damage that will restore power to the most people.

She has not been told when to expect to have power back on. “They say they don’t know,” Blount said. 

The good news is the Blounts have a generator and recently were able to borrow another one from family members who had their power restored.

Her husband, Joey Blount, has been working to switch the use of the generator between their house and his mother’s across the street, primarily to keep their freezers from defrosting.

Sheila Blount said they are surviving all things considered but that the extension chords throughout the house have been the biggest nuisance.

“We have to move the extension chords around the house as we need them,” Blount said. “Getting read in the morning has been a challenge.”