A June storm caused a tree branch to break off an old tree in a St. Louis County backyard. Unfortunately, the branch was hanging over a pair of power lines, which caught them before it could hit the ground. The homeowner told First Alert 4 that she immediately reported the issue to Ameren Missouri (her utility company) without any luck.
In the weeks that followed, Patti Bickel said she reported the branch several more times in the hopes that someone would address the issue before something worse happened. However, multiple crew members came and went without doing anything.
Now she says she’s worried about the effects the weight of the branch is having on the wires and the poles that hold them up. This is causing her to grow concerned that things could get worse before they get better, temporarily knocking power out in the neighborhood.
First Alert 4 says they reached out to the utility company about removing the branch. Fortunately, it sounds like things are starting to move in the right direction.
The Homeowner Has Had Trouble With Trees in the Past
Bickel says the branch has been weighing down the power lines for months now. “Just the weight on these electrical wires—I don’t know how much they can take,” she told First Alert 4 about her concerns. “And I just don’t want it to become a bigger issue than it needs to be.”
It sounds like Bickel may be extra nervous about the situation because this isn’t the first time a tree branch has caused her trouble. “In my previous home, I did have a tree branch go through my roof,” she said of another storm that blew a branch down at her old house.
Ameren Missouri Responded to the Outlet’s Request for Comment
Fortunately, it sounds like Bickel’s tree branch worries are about to come to an end. The outlet reached out to the electric utility to find out what the holdup was, and the company responded with an explanation that extreme heat and storm damage have kept them from coming out.
“We apologize that this work has taken longer than expected,” a statement from the company read. “To remove the branch safely, our crews must temporarily de-energize a power line that serves customers in the area. Extreme heat conditions, like those we are experiencing this week, and storm-related restoration work have limited when these planned outages can be scheduled.”
Ameren Missouri continued its statement by saying that the company planned to stay in contact with Bickel to schedule a date when they could come out. KMOV reports that the company actually plans to be out on Sept. 2 to finally take care of the issue, which has to be music to Bickel’s ears.
Other People Have Similar Complaints
While Bickel’s problem sounds like it’s about to be solved, people in the comments of KMOV’s Facebook post say they’ve been going through something similar with the company. “I’ve called so many times about the lines in our neighborhood covered in trees,” one person wrote in part.
Meanwhile, others claim that having the company come out can sometimes do more harm than good, writing, “Then they will tear up your yard with their trucks, and you will have to file with their insurance and not hear back to get yard fixed. That has been my experience.”
How well Bickel’s problem gets solved remains to be seen, but for now it sounds like at least there’s some movement on the months-long problem. Hopefully getting it taken care of brings some relief to Bickel.