AID - Single-digit temperatures Friday night caused an electric power outage that affected several hundred Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative customers in Lawrence County.

More than 300 households south of Aid and in the Bald Knob area were without power until midday Saturday.

"Our linemen have been working since midnight to restore power," BREC spokesman Steve Oden said. "Due to steep slopes and terrain we weren't able to reach all of the areas with bucket trucks and material handlers. Some of the repair work had to be done by hand by men who walked in, carrying their material and equipment."

Oden said electricity had been fully restored by Saturday afternoon.

The outage was blamed on 30- to 50-year-old copper wires that had broken due to the extreme cold. Those old wires were scheduled to be replaced later this year as part of a massive BREC improvement project.