Woman Who Suffered Amputations After Power Line Fell on Her Sues KCP&L

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December 21, 2002

Woman Who Suffered Amputations After Power Line Fell on Her Sues KCP&L

The Kansas City Star - December 21, 2002

Mark Morris

The Kansas City Star

12/21/2002

A Kansas City woman who suffered amputations after a power line fell on her earlier this year sued Kansas City Power & Light Co. and an equipment supplier Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Melanie Monroe was electrocuted and burned over 50 percent of her body when the line struck her Feb. 2, 2002, after a massive ice storm left thousands of area residents without power. Doctors amputated her right leg and right arm.

“She has suffered unimaginable pain due to the thickness of the burns and the amputations,” said Anita Porte Robb, an attorney for the family.

Monroe’s husband and two children suffered less serious injuries, and are seeking unspecified damages.

The lawsuit alleges that KCP&L had permanently secured the power line with a clamp that was intended only for temporary repairs. The lawsuit also maintains that the ice storm had nothing to do with the accident.

“At the time of the event, the temperature had been above the freezing levels for approximately (12 hours)… and a combination of air temperature and radiant heat from 42 hours of clear sky had long before melted away any and all ice off the subject power line,” the lawsuit contended.

KCP&L spokesman Tom Robinson declined comment, saying the company had not seen the lawsuit.

A spokesman for Hubbell Power Systems of Centrailia, MO., which manufactured the clamp, could not be reached for comment.

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