In Russell County there were more than 2,700 without power Tuesday morning following a large severe winter storm, causing the emergency management coordinator to declare a county-wide state of emergency.

As of Tuesday evening, AEP's website says there were just over 1,300 people still without power there. We caught up with power crews in the area and found out getting the lights back on can be a tough job when the list is lengthy and the conditions are cold, wet and snowy.

It might be a snow day for kids, but it's a hard day of work for power crews and a day in the dark for many residents hoping to keep warm.

William Foster is a Russell County resident who lost power during the storms. "It was about two or three in the morning. I woke up freezing to death and looked at the clock and it wasn't on, so i realized the power was out," he explained.
Shannon Cook lost her power as well. "We just all stuck together and kept warm, just pulled together as a family," she said.

That's why it wasn't hard to find electric crews on a mission.

First they have to assess the damage, according to AEP foreman Jody Lefever. "A lot of down lines are from tree limbs. Breaking limbs that are weighted down with snow," he told us.
Then crews work hard restore power. We learned one down line can take anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours to fix. "It's strenuous hours," Lefever said. "You're out here in this weather, I mean we can be going from 5:00 in the morning to 11:00 at night trying to get lights back on."

One group of the men are all from Oklahoma, here to help local crews stay ahead of the snow. That's why those waiting this unusual October out in the dark are asked to be patient.
Ronnie Fields is an AEP supervisor. "When you're out of power, it's an inconvenience and we're working as hard as we can work to get it back on," he assured us.

"We just gotta be patient and wait for them to come get us," William Foster said.

We learned it could take three to four days for crews to get power fully restored to the region.