Aug 5, 2003 3 min read

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – For nearly two weeks, extension cords have crisscrossed streets, generators have been running at full bore and residents have been getting by with flashlights and splashes of water in the face. More than 15,000 people in Memphis were still without power Monday as the result of a July 22 storm that uprooted trees all over town. The storm left seven people dead and cut off power to more than 320,000 homes and businesses at its peak.

Hugh Higginbotham sat in the dark and midsummer heat until Sunday, when the lights came back on at his home on Watson Street. Others in the neighborhood have not been so fortunate, but the lucky ones have helped by running extension cords from their homes.

“It all depends on what tree falls where,” Higginbotham said.

In another part of town, much of Burgess Ledbetter’s neighborhood remained without power as Memphis Light Gas & Water tried to clean up what it called “pockets” of outages throughout Shelby County.

After two weeks, Ledbetter had a generator-and-extension-cord operation running smoothly. By switching a couple of cords from time to time, he was able to intermittently power a refrigerator, several small window air conditioners and the washing machine.

“We’re drying our clothes the old fashion way. They’re stiff but they’re wearable,” he said.

Ledbetter, like many Memphis residents, said he has been surprised to find that friends and business associates in other parts of the country have heard little about the city’s plight. The storm hit on the day American soldiers in Iraq killed Saddam Hussein’s sons, and much of the national news media paid it little notice.

The storm arrived without warning and though brief, carried winds of up to 100 mph.

“Hurricanes generate interest. Tornadoes generate interest. Straight line winds are kind of so what,” Ledbetter said. “Even though our wind equaled a Category 1 hurricane, we couldn’t use the word hurricane. It just didn’t have the pizazz.”

Higginbotham made it through with no help from a generator or a line to a neighbor’s house, even though temperatures were in the 90s. The retired school teacher who lives alone said he slept on the floor between two windows.

“You just learn to cope with it,” he said. “I grew up without air conditioning.”

Julia Okeefe, whose house was still without power, said she, her husband and two young children gave up on the frontier life after several days.

“It’s hot and dark and I guess the worst part is you’re kind of scared thinking somebody might break in,” she said. “But now we’ve chickened out and moved to a hotel.”