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John Daley ReportingTwo of the most ferocious storms in recent memory down trees and knock out power to thousands of customers. So, how are they doing the day after? Hundreds of people were still without power for much of the day, but that number was down from tens of thousands yesterday.
Some people we spoke with expressed frustration with that, but others say, given the power of the storm, they were happy they got power restored when they did. The storms mostly spared things close to the ground, but go up 20, 30, 40 feet and, in places, nothing was safe.
The most common victims were trees and powerlines, which looked like they'd been sawed down by a giant meteorological weed-whacker. In Provo, the first supercell chopped down more than 45 power poles, leaving 85-thousand city power residents without power. This afternoon that number was down to roughly 600 homes.
Clerissa Lewis, Provo Resident: "We're doing pretty good, they've cleaned it up really well. It's fast, faster than I thought it was going to happen."
In the Millcreek area, where the second supercell hit, it was a similar scene with some 29-thousand Rocky Mountain Power customers without electricity.
Three and a half years ago a huge winter storm left tens of thousands in the dark, some for days. This first big test since the utility changed owners left some without power for much of the day.
Anne Call, Millcreek Resident: "Four and a half hours or so. It's quite a while. I realized they were really inundated with the size of the storm."
Carla Scrip, Rocky Mtn. Power Customer: "I think they did all they could. We were so many without, so I imagine they did all they could. I'm really not all that familiar with their work, but I wish it could be quicker."
Marc James, Rocky Mt. Power Customer: "You're in the middle of the summer, you have warmer weather, you don't have snow hampering you. You don't have to be up on poles with wind and stuff blowing all over you. So I think they did pretty darned good this go around."
Jeff Clapham, Rocky Mtn. Power Customer: "For us it was a little bit of a problem, but it was a good day to run errands and go do other things for a few hours, for the rest of the day."
The latest information we have about Rocky Mountain Power customers is there are about 900 still without power.
