Some in the dark again as power work continues

RUSSELL COUNTY, Va. -

Weather is still causing problems for many in our area. We went to Russell County, Virginia on Wednesday to track the progress for those still without power.

AEP tells us Wednesday morning there were about 1,100 people in Russell County without electricity. As of that evening, there were under 500.

Southwest Virginia's winter wonderland is starting to melt away, but at Rachel Helton's home, still sitting under about a foot of snow, she's still waiting for the electricity to turn back on.

"We lost power [around] 10 Monday night," she explained.

Since then she's literally been living off her wood stove. It heats her home, warms her water, and when it's mealtime it's handy then too. "I can fix my bacon or eggs on the stove," she said. "That's how I fix my food."

But she's also got a warm fridge. "I've not cleaned that out yet," she said.

She's had to get creative about food storage, too -- it's being chilled on the deck thanks to Mother Nature.

Living alone, Helton says the worst part about losing power is no television. But she's made do -- "Most of the time I play my Yahtzee game," she said.

We took a look around Helton's street and actually found what she says is the source of the problem: a power line down on the road. It's common issue after this storm, keeping many more residents in the dark.

Now crews are still working diligently to fix this problem. "We're slowly but surely making progress, getting people back on," explained Byron Combs, a worker we spoke with.

That's good news for Helton, who can't wait to get back those little, electrical luxuries.

Crews told me that area should get power back on before dark. They're hopeful all of Russell County will have electricity by Thursday.