Tornado changed landscape of tiny Bremen, KY. It will take ‘months, maybe years’ to recover.
Step inside the Bremen Fire Department Tuesday and you’d see dozens of volunteers, emergency responders and city officials hustling in and out the doors. You’d hear phones ringing constantly. You’d see pocket bibles stacked on tables and meal kits being assembled. You’d see tubs of flashlights, work gloves, caution tape, safety vests and countless other donated items stacked on the floor.
The fire department for this town which has just 350 residents in its city limits has been turned into a command center for what has been widely regarded as “the worst thing” the city has ever seen: a tornado that carried through four states on a record-long 227-mile destructive path with peak winds varying anywhere from 158 to 206 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
In the middle of it all is Bremen Mayor Allen Miller. He opened the fire department the night of the storm and let citizens use it as a shelter. Then he let emergency management come in. Now he sits at a table in the center of the entryway with an oversized map of the city in front of him. He was seemingly doing everything at once — as he coordinated with volunteers and workers on his map, he also made phone calls one after another. If he wasn’t making calls, others were calling him. As he waited for someone to answer his call, he talked to the volunteers and workers standing in front of him who are showing up in Bremen from all over the state and beyond.
“I guess that’s the job of the mayor,” he said, his phone continuing to ring while he took a moment’s break between calls and coordination with volunteers.
Miller has been handling logistics for workers, volunteers and donors. He’s talked to homeowners to figure out what they need and been on the phone with state and national officials to help with relief.
The tornado that devastated his town last weekend has killed 11 residents within Bremen’s fire district, which covers about 4,000 people, according to local officials.
Deaths in a town that small, where everyone knows each other, have been devastating.
“You’re either kin to them, or you know them,” Miller said.
Gov. Andy Beshear visited Bremen Tuesday and spoke with local officials, saying that he “can’t imagine” dealing with 11 deaths in a city that small.
“The trauma just seeps into your skin,” he said.
He said his uncle had family members in Bremen who died. He also said he has “never seen a state more united.”
“I’ve never seen an outpouring of love and support quite like what we are seeing right now,” he said.
Miller’s wife, Stacy Miller, said the deaths had a significant impact in a small town. She also said the damage done from the tornado had “changed the landscape of Bremen.”
“It’s disorienting when you’re out there because you don’t even know where you’re at,” she said.
Miller, who was handling the donations supply chain as support flooded the city, said officials had received thousands of calls, texts, emails and Facebook messages. Support was coming from Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana and beyond.
“The whole entire southeastern region of the United States has been here,” she said.
Miller said the city had received an “abundance” of donated items. They were accepting money donations to support long-term recovery.
The winds snapped trees in half, or even uprooted them entirely. Street signs were gone. Cars and trucks were destroyed.
The plan now is to “get back to normal,” after “catastrophic” damage, according to Keith Putnam, Muhlenberg County Emergency Management director. How long could that take?
“Months, maybe years,” Putnam said. “ … We had tornadoes in 2008 and an ice storm in 2009 and I don’t think either one compared to this.”
The effort to get “back to normal” was well underway Tuesday. Rescue operations had finished. Everyone was accounted for. Utility workers were attempting to restore power to homes that could still get it. Volunteers and workers were clearing debris from the streets.
Muhlenberg County officials asked people to call before they donate anything else because they’d gotten so much support. But they still needed help.
“We’re not turning anybody away, or anything away,” Putnam said.
Emergency management officials from other counties, including Pendleton and Henderson, showed up to help. Volunteers brought excavation and hauling equipment from other Kentucky communities, and even other states.
It was greatly appreciated after the storm reduced homes to rubble.
“This storm here, it didn’t discriminate,” said Alex Piper, a deputy sheriff at the Muhlenberg County sheriff’s office. “Anything that was in its path, it was leveled.
While trying to rebuild, the city also has to deal with the possibility that deaths could increase.
“We do have some injured … I do know we have some that have some serious injuries,” said Piper.
Piper said law enforcement officers often see people on their worst days, but dealing with the devastation of the tornadoes has been entirely different.
“This right here, you’re lost for words,” he said.
Assistance has come in many different forms — excavators and other commercial equipment were seen frequently coming and going from the city limits as volunteers showed up to help clean up and haul away debris.
“I can’t believe how much debris has already been removed,” Piper said.
Others have shown up with donations of food and water. Piper said the county plans to utilize a warehouse to store all the donated items. The help has come from other areas of Kentucky, but also other states, including as far as Florida, Piper said.
The “phenomenal” work done by utility workers has helped too. Officials hoped power would be restored by the end of Tuesday to any homes in the city which were still capable of getting it, Piper said.
Emergency management officials were planning to do a damage assessment Tuesday.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 2:39 PM.