Power outages, ice totals impacting Mtn. Grove

MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. — The first winter storm of the year is impacting many across the Ozarks. In Mountain Grove, a few hundred people were without power earlier today.

Those who did have power said roads were mostly clear by the time they needed to head out, and the storm was mostly just an inconvenience.

"We've had a lot worse," said Shane Coffman, who owns Mountain Grove Pharmacy. "You know, being from here my whole life and we've had a lot worse and we know that. But still, it's always concerning."

Coffman said he had power at his business this morning, but other parts of the city were in the dark. In case of a power outage, Coffman said he's prepared.

"We have generators going forward that we can plug in and use if necessary," Coffman said. "A lot of our refrigerated items, of course, medicine, insulin or those types of things. And we have to do things with those. So we have to take precautions with those. So it's just a normal, standard thing that that we take care of."

Mountain Grove Fire Chief Clinton Gibbens said it was a busy night responding to damage from the ice storm.

"It's a big, big team effort," Gibbens said. "You know, we had, we had a tree fall on our main street last night. Sheriff's office, police department and fire department were there pushing it out of the way."

Gibbens said in ice and winter weather, it's important to be careful on the roads and be prepared.

"Put a winter prep kit in your vehicle, you know, blankets, canned goods, the little hand heaters that you can carry," said Gibbens. "Just the off chance that you do slide off into the ditch or the median. You know, you can sit there and stay relatively warm."