Conditions slowly improve in counties

Posted: 12:00am on Jan 31, 2009; Modified: 3:13am on Jan 31, 2009

  • Services available

    Shelters

    Bluegrass Area Red Cross, (859) 253-1331; ■ Cynthiana: Cynthiana Christian Church, 202 N. Main St; ■ Georgetown: Garth Elementary School, 501 S. Hamilton St.; ■ Nicholasville: City Park (the Blue Building), 402 Park Dr.; ■ Woodford Co. Senior Citizens Center, (859) 873-7290; Emergency Management Center, (859) 873-3170; ■ Berea Church on the Rock, (859) 986-1899; ■ Richmond EKU Begley Building, (859) 623-1718 or (859) 623-0943; ■ Danville Bunny Davis Center, (859) 238-1233; Centenary Life Center, Perryville Road.

    Debris

    ■ In Danville, curbside tree and limb disposal will begin Saturday. Debris must be within 10 feet of the road and be of a manageable size. Individuals can drop off debris at the quarry on Gose Pike.

    ■ Woodford County, Midway and Versailles are asked to move limbs and storm debris to the right of way in front of their homes. The Woodford County Recycling Center on Beasley Drive in Versailles is accepting storm debris free of charge.

More than 72 hours have passed since people began losing power. Hundreds of thousands are still without it, but thousands have regained power and have tried to piece things back together.

Here's a rundown on how parts of the state are doing:

Boyle County

On Friday afternoon, Kentucky Utilities reported that 6,950 Danville residents were still without power.

Water treatment was up and running Friday, but residents were urged to conserve usage so towers could refill to appropriate levels. A boil-water advisory was also in effect.

The American Red Cross office on Third Street handed out free gallon jugs of water to people Friday afternoon.

Among those getting water was Lee Stratton of Mitchellsburg, who has been at home helping care for four children — ages 14, 13, 8 and a 1-month-old. Stratton works at a local car dealership, but hasn't worked since the ice storm.

"We don't have any heat other than a little wood burner. No lights," he said. "We've got candles."

He added: "All the expenses and no money coming in is making it pretty rough."

Chad Boyd of Danville was also there. Boyd said he, his wife and two kids, ages 5 and 1, have been staying with eight other people in a one-bedroom apartment in Junction City.

"It's been awful. We've been staying with some people but they've got so many there they're starting to run out of stuff, too," Boyd said. "The kids are getting impatient because they don't have anything to do. They're kind of getting aggravated and tired of being in the house all the time."

"I'm ready to see it gone," Boyd said of the ice.

Garrard County

In Garrard County, outside the city of Lancaster, "We still have around 2,000 customers in Garrard County alone without electricity," said David East, deputy director of emergency management.

The boil-water advisory for Lancaster was lifted Friday afternoon. However, customers with Garrard County Water Association were under a boil-water advisory.

Garrard County schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Power still has not been restored to Paint Lick Elementary.

And while county roads may be passable for a single vehicle, they are not passable for school buses or larger vehicles. A two-story frame house, which was unoccupied at the time, was destroyed by fire in the Buckeye community Thursday night because tanker trucks could not get to the scene, Judge-Executive John Wilson said.

Some 39 county roads were opened Friday. Wilson, County Attorney Jeff Moss and other county employees were out helping to clear debris from county roads, in addition to National Guard units and inmates from the Lincoln County jail.

"We've got all hands on deck trying to make sure these roads are cleared," Wilson said. "Even our ambulance drivers are out with chain saws."

County officials still ask people to stay off the roads. However, if residents need to get the basics, "now is the time to do it," East said.

"We are expecting some severe weather later this weekend," East said. "We're looking at the possibility of four inches of snow Sunday and Monday."

Jessamine County

Perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 people in Jessamine County are without power in the unincorporated areas of the county and the city of Wilmore, said John Carpenter, emergency manager director for Jessamine.

Frank Hubbard, emergency management director for Nicholasville, said about 20 percent of the households remained without electricity. The outages are primarily on the west side of town.

A crew of independent contractors from Kansas, who arrived in town Thursday, was helping restore power Friday, Hubbard said.

Madison County

About 12,500 Kentucky Utilities customers in Berea and Richmond were without power on Friday morning, said Kelley McBride, spokeswoman for Madison County Emergency Management.

Madison County Judge-Executive Kent Clark said crews had cleared the 620 miles of roads throughout the county by 7 p.m. Thursday. Workers will continue to clear the roads through the weekend.

Corey Lewis of the Richmond Fire Department said Richmond firefighters had gone on 335 runs since Tuesday. They have transported residents to shelters, cleared downed power lines, and responded to water problems and other issues. Only six of those calls were for structure fires.

"We're not over," he said. "We're not out of these woods."

As many as 188 people filled the green cots set up in the Church on the Rock gymnasium throughout the week. But less than a dozen of the cots were unfolded on Friday afternoon.

The gymnasium behind the Berea church had transformed into an American Red Cross emergency shelter when the ice storm pummeled Kentucky Tuesday. Most occupants flocked to the shelter from Berea, a city that was blanketed in darkness Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Friday, Berea Mayor Steve Connelly said that power has returned to 90 percent of the city of about 10,000. The restoration sparked an exodus from area shelters — one shelter closed.

By Friday, only nine residents remained in a gym, called the Rock House by members of Church on the Rock on on U.S. 25 in Berea.

The nine remaining occupants sat at the few white tables that were still left on Friday afternoon.

It was quiet enough in the gym for Jan Everett to work on a Sudoku puzzle from the Berea Citizen newspaper. Everett and her daughter, Mary Melvin, had stayed at the gym since Tuesday afternoon.

Everett raved about their meal Thursday night — chicken potpie, macaroni and cheese, chili and leftovers from lunch.

"Who can complain about that?" she said. "I think I've eaten more here than at home."

But "it does feel weird that we're the last ones here," she said.

Mercer County

As of Friday, about 50 percent of the people in unincorporated Mercer County were without power, and about a quarter of the people in Harrodsburg had no electricity, Mercer County Judge-Executive John Trisler said.

In addition, about 40 percent of Burgin was without power, Trisler said.

Mercer County and Harrodsburg were under a boil-water advisory.

Fifteen people spent Thursday night in the emergency shelter at Lions Community Park in Harrodsburg, Trisler said.

Roads were passable, but 20 National Guard members were assisting county crews with debris removal.

Tree limbs may be taken to the recycling center at 840 Moberly Road from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend.

Owen County

In Owen County, Friday was the first day since roads and front yards were concealed by snow and ice that driving was permitted for non-emergency personnel, said Rick Morgan, Owen County Emergency Management director. He said county and main roads were in "fair shape" but state and side roads were still somewhat covered.

Morgan said his agency was flooded with calls Friday, even more than the past two days, from people eager to return to their homes or starved for information about road conditions and cleanup.

"It's going to be a slow process," Morgan said.

About 1,000 people were still without power in Owen County on Friday; the outages were scattered throughout the county and mostly residential, Morgan said.

He said utility companies thought most power should be restored to the county by Saturday. But Morgan acknowledged that might be "wishful thinking."

A shelter has been established at First Baptist Church in Owenton, Morgan said. But most people have chosen to stay with relatives or at home. About 14 people stayed at the shelter Thursday night.

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