Monday, three days after a storm tore through the region leaving many without power, Stephanie Howell, who lives off of Jim Elliot Road in Elizabethton, still waits for crews to reconnect her electricity.
Howell, who is 63 years old and lives by herself, has stayed at her home on Jim Elliot for 32 years, where she now takes cares of 20 rescue dogs and nine rescue cats.
During Friday’s storm, a large tree fell and still remains laying on Howell’s roof. During the same night, another tree also fell and snapped the power line that runs to Howell’s home, disconnecting her power.
“It happened so quick,” Howell said. “It was over and done within about ten minutes. I was setting and watching TV and the TV went off. The wind was incredible.”
“I went up stairs to my bedroom to shut one of my windows, and that is when I saw all of the trees that had fell.” she continued. “
Saturday, Howell’s two friends, Nola Dugger and Rhonda Harr, visited Howell and helped clear some of the debris from her roof and yard, which rendered a large pile of brush and wood that Howell said anyone is welcome to pick up for firewood. However, due to the size of the tree that still lays on Howell’s roof, the three could not remove the tree.
Other than Dugger and Harr, and her neighbor that let her use a generator for some power, Howell, who is on disability, said she hasn’t had any help and doesn’t know how she will remove the tree from her roof. Monday, as Dugger and Harr returned with some gas to power the generator, Howell said how thankful she is to have the two helping her.
“These are the only two that came to help me,” Howell said as she welcomed Dugger and Harr. “My grandad told me when I was growing up, if you can count five true friends, you are a wealthy person.”
“These are the only two,” Howell said as tears formed in her eyes.
Howell is one of 300 people still without power in Carter County as service crews are stretched across the county trying to get everyone’s power back online.
If anyone has the equipment to remove large trees and would like help out, they can contact Howell at 543-6273 or Dugger at 737-8720.