Power failure kills woman in iron lung
Dianne Odell, 61, had been confined to the iron lung – a 7-foot metal tube – since she was stricken by polio at age 3.
Family members were unable to get an emergency generator working after a power failure knocked out electricity to the Odell family's residence near Jackson, northeast of Memphis, brother-in-law Will Beyer said.
"We did everything we could do but we couldn't keep her breathing," Beyer said. "Dianne had gotten a lot weaker over the past several months and she just didn't have the strength to keep going.''
The Madison County Sheriff's office said emergency crews could do little to help. The local power company reported spotty power outages in the area because of a tree that fell on a power line.
Despite deformity from bulbo-spinal polio that stopped her from using a portable machine, Odell earned a high school diploma and wrote a children's book.
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Hydro One delivery rates go up
THUNDER BAY - Hydro One seasonal customers will face bigger increases in their bills than the utility's residential customers as a result of an Ontario Energy Board approval of a rate hike.
Hydro One received permission to increase its delivery charge, retroactive to last year.
It says it needs the money to maintain and upgrade its infrastructure, much of which was installed in the 1950s.
The utility is notifying customers that new statements reflect higher delivery rates which were not charged in 2018 and the first half of this year, due to delay in receiving the OEB's permission.
The amount that customers' bills will increase by depends…
