Willfred Eudaly, a 91-year-old Lawrence man who is blind and lives alone, relied on his natural gas fireplace, an old coat and “a lot of blankets” to stay warm on Friday.

“If it wasn’t for this fireplace I’d be freezing my butt off,” Eudaly said.

A winter landscape of sun-struck ice reaches as far as the eye can see as a Kansas University student begins a long climb to campus up 14th Street. The arrival of the sun Friday didn't put an end to problems caused by this week's ice storm.

One of the worst ice storms in recent Douglas County history is over, but for thousands of people, the problems of dealing with its aftermath continue.

Eudaly was one of 2,100 Westar Energy customers in Douglas County who still did not have electric power at 8 p.m. Friday. It is expected to take the entire weekend to get all customers in service, Westar spokeswoman Cynthia McCarvel said.

“We’ve brought crews in extra crews and they’re doing the best they can,” McCarvel said. “When restoring power, we try to restore areas where large numbers of customers can be restored on a specific circuit.”

Patience wears thin

Nevertheless, after more than two days without power, some customers were getting impatient.

“I’m tired of calling and hearing nothing but recordings,” said Becki Ewert, who along with her husband, Tony, cares for six children ranging in age from 2 to 15. When their home 8 miles south of Lawrence lost power Thursday night, they rented two rooms at a local motel.

“It’s too expensive to continue doing that,” Ewert said. “I think we’re just going to have to go back home and tough it out.”

Cynthia Davis was one of the lucky ones Friday. After a 36-hour wait, power to her home in the 1100 block of Delaware Street was restored at 10 a.m.

Davis, however, still was concerned about future power outages. She said she thought property owners should be forced to keep tree limbs trimmed from power lines.

“That can affect a lot of people in the neighborhood, and the (power companies) only go so far,” she said.

Lawrence city officials said ordinances only require property owners to keep trees and shrubs from interfering with traffic signs and sighting distances on public rights-of-way.

Clearing, cutting trees

Business was good at area tree service companies. The power was out much of Thursday for Larry and Janice Sarlls, rural Eudora, who operate HighPlains Tree Service from their home. Within 15 minutes after power was restored about 5 p.m. Thursday, several calls for service were received by the Sarllses. Those calls continued Friday, Janice Sarlls said.

“A lot of people are freaking out about their trees,” she said. “They either want the tree limbs removed or they want the entire tree cut down so they don’t have this problem again.”

Callers have been patient about waiting their turn, Sarlls said.

“They just want to be on the list,” she said.

In Lawrence, property owners are asked to place limbs and branches at the curbside. Beginning Tuesday or Wednesday, city crews will pick up and chip the material at the curb. That will allow residents to avoid having to bundle branches required for regular trash pickups.

Praying for power

At least one church remained without electricity Friday. The Rev. Sherry Schultz, of Unity Church of Lawrence, 416 Lincoln, said she was hoping for divine intervention.

“I’m praying that we’ll have power by Sunday,” Schultz said. “You can have church service without electricity; it would just be nice to have heat. If we don’t, we can huddle up in a group and have a short service. We’ve done that before.”

The Lawrence Community Building, 115 W. 11th St., remained open all night Thursday and Friday and will be open again tonight, said Paula Phillips, director of Douglas County Emergency Management. People without power to their homes can sleep there. They must, however, bring their own food and bedding, she said.

Five people slept at the Community Building Thursday night, officials with Lawrence Parks and Recreation said.

In Baldwin, power had been restored to all but about 20 homes by Friday night, officials said. Crews would continue to work through the weekend until all customers were taken care of.

Customers of Sunflower Broadband’s cable television service also experienced service disruptions. At one time 400 customers were without service, said Eldon Rightmeier, Sunflower’s chief technology officer.

By Friday night virtually all customers in Lawrence, Eudora and Tonganoxie had service restored, Rightmeier said. Problems continued in Linwood, however, and crews will work through the weekend to make repairs, he said.

Warmer temperatures Thursday afternoon and the return of the sun Friday began melting the ice cover. But that caused other problems.

Thursday afternoon a car and a Kansas University Facilities Operations vehicle were damaged when chunks of ice fell from Fraser Hall’s roof. Campus workers set up barricades around the building, leaving two entrances that could be used safely, KU officials said.

Record number of calls

As the ice melted, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical firefighters and emergency dispatchers had a chance to catch their breath.

From 7 a.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday, Fire & Medical personnel handled 111 calls for service, Chief Jim McSwain said. That increased to 197 during the next 24 hours.

“That’s a record for the 24 years that I can remember,” McSwain said.

In the Douglas County emergency dispatch center, during the entire 24 hours of Thursday, 647 calls for service were relayed to fire, medical and law enforcement personnel, acting supervisor Jim Ramsey said. On Friday that increased to 660 calls, he said.

No more ice or snow is expected until at least Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. Snow is in Monday’s forecast, but little, if any, accumulation was expected, meteorologist Steve Kays said.

Eudaly, who said he has friends and neighbors checking on him at his Lawrence home, took the power outage in stride.

“I know they’re working as hard as they can,” the retired liquor store owner said. “What I need is someone to cuddle up with.”