Kentucky Struggles With Storm's Aftermath

National Guardsmen Deployed As 700,000 Homes And Businesses Suffer Without Heat Or Electricity

(AP)  As hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians lingered in the dark nearly a week after an ice storm wrecked the state's power grid, National Guard troops prepared to go door-to-door to check on residents.

Utility crews worked feverishly to restore electricity amid the largest state power outage on record. Guardsmen cleared roads with chain saws and some residents bundled up for another night around a wood-burning stove, looking for any way possible to stay warm.

With more than 700,000 Kentucky homes and businesses still without electricity Saturday, the state was a long way from recovering after an ice storm left a swath of destruction throughout the nation's midsection.

Kentucky was the hardest-hit. Monday's icy wallop encrusted a large part of the state in a mantle so thick it shattered utility poles, toppled trees and drove thousands from frigid homes to shelters. Officials had previously reported that 607,000 Kentucky customers were without power, but later said that figure didn't include municipal utilities or rural electric cooperatives within the Tennessee Valley Authority system.

Meanwhile, officials told those still shivering in dark, unheated homes to seek safe refuge in motels and places with power or generators.

"Too many people are trying to tough it out at home," Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo said.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear on Saturday deployed every one of his Army National Guardsmen. Authorities said they were investigating roughly a dozen deaths in Kentucky alone. A Louisville man who had been burning charcoal in a grill inside an apartment was apparently killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, the latest weather-related death.

The storm that began in the Midwest has been blamed or suspected in at least 42 deaths, including nine in Arkansas, six each in Texas and Missouri, three in Virginia, two each in Oklahoma, Indiana and West Virginia and one in Ohio. Most were blamed on hypothermia, traffic accidents and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Finding fuel - heating oil along with gas for cars and generators - was a struggle for those trying to tough it out at home. Hospitals and other essential services had priority over the public.

At an independent-living community in southwest Kentucky, apartments were pitch black at night but for candles, lanterns and flashlights that created a soft glow.

"I'm just trying to stay warm and trying to sleep," said Betty Sanders, 60, who donned extra shirts and socks at Lakeland Arbor Village in Aurora. "It's rough. It's very, very rough."

The ice storm had Sanders longing for her old home in Florida.

"I don't know how much longer I can handle it," she said. "I'm not used to this."

Some 4,600 Guardsmen have been pressed into service.

Spc. Jared Fox of Clarksville, Tenn., spent his first day in the Guard helping the storm relief effort.

"I was supposed to report this morning for my first weekend drill," said Fox, fresh from completing a four-year Army stint that included two tours in Iraq. "As it turns out, I'm activated."

Residents awaited relief amid warnings the outages could continue for weeks in some remote areas. The governor was undeterred when asked about how the state would pay for the recovery.

"The most basic duty of government is to protect the lives and safety of our people, and we have been pulling out all the stops and will continue to do so," Beshear told The Associated Press.

The city of Paducah was under a nighttime curfew. Capt. Don Hodgson of the Paducah police department said as of Saturday night there had been very few violations in the western Kentucky city of about 25,000.

Nearby, Angel Wyant has been eking out the days with the heat from a kitchen frier connected to a handheld propane tank.

"And a carbon monoxide detector," she points out, mindful of the dozens of deaths caused by the storm.

But the makeshift heater isn't much good when night falls, so Wyant, 32, and her three children have been staying overnight at the home of neighbor Rita Kelly, 53.

"We huddle around the old wood stove," said Kelly, whose two-bedroom aluminum sided house now shelters six people. After days of searching empty shelves, she and her husband bought a generator Saturday and were trying to hook it up.

"We about tapped out of money after buying that thing," Kelly said with a weak smile.

[kygrl1]

I live in Kentucky & have been without power since Tuesday January 27. I''m white. I have a full time job that I have been at for over 10 years. My husband and I work hard, we pay our bills and our taxes & we send our kids to a Catholic School. I guess if you want to call us white trash go right ahead. But these "white trash" are some of the most caring people you will come across. I have seen people going out of their way to help others. Wednesday, there weren''t any utility trucks out, but there were "white trash" neighbors out cutting trees from the roads & driveways & checking on the elderly and people who couldn''t get out. We do it because we care about each other and the majority of Kentuckians do not rely on the government for their handouts. The media raked Bush over the coals for Katrina. I haven''t heard any response from Obama. I haven''t heard of the media taking him to task for what he is ignoring in Kentucky. I guess if you are white, work, and pretty much mind your own business you aren''t as important as someone who relys on the goverment - who, by the way, relys on people like me - to foot the bill for housing, food, utilities and whatever else free handout that they are getting. I am proud to live in Kentucky. We have a beautiful state and most of the people here are down to earth and friendly. At least we aren''t whining and waiting for someone else to help us. We belive in doing what you can for yourself and those around you.

[shelleree]

You know I am SHOCKED more every day, when I check the internet chat boards. At just how many CRUEL EVIL people there are living out here in the world. I LIVE IN KENTUCKY ......AND I AM VERY PROUD ....THERE IS NO WHERE ELSE ON EARTH I WOULD RATHER LIVE EITHER ! Let me just say this I live on Lake Cumberland ...born and raised have never moved more than 50 mile radius my whole life. And people from all over the world come here to vacation on our lake , and most of them then come here to retire ..Because it is so beautiful , but also because of the people here ...We take care of our selfs and each other ! So the ones sitting here spewing stupidity about how we spend our finances or grant money or about FEMA helping us out ...Screw you all ! Keep FEMA and your opinions to yourself ! When martial law is inacted maybe FEMA will forget us then too ! Someone said something about we deserve it because Tabacoo comes from here . You are a complete IDIOT , You think Kentucky is the only reason there is Tabacoo and Cigarettes ...What a joke come out of the hole you have been living in and get your head out of your *** ! And for the comment about us being uneducated ...Even the one''s here that did not complete high school let alone College , have more SENSE than most college grad''s I know from any where else , and WE HAVE A HELL OF ALOT MORE COMMON SENSE AND WE CAN SURVIVE ANY THING LIFE THROWS OUR WAY...and at the end of the day still have a SMILE on our face 8-)

[ayanazzz]

My Sweetheart is amoung the the men sent 10hrs away from home to K.Y to help hundreds of thousands of residents get their electricy back on. This is not something he was forced to do, when we had plans but something he accepted and I understood. I think the men out there helping this town are beautiful. It is amazing how the job alone is dangerous but to travel to unknown areas and help them get their lives back is just amazing. The Kentuckians are lucky to have these men as well as us at home still waiting for them to return. He''s been gone for 7 days. I cant wait to see him and show my sweetheart he is also my hero. :-*

[rev_miesse]

-I''ve visited Kentucky several times for different events and conferences and found my trips especially enjoyable. The accommodations are nice, the food is great, and the people are courteous.

Posted by Meg001 at 06:14 PM : Feb 01, 2009

I agree, the southeast mountain counties are beautiful, especially in the fall. Lake Cumberland is fantastic. I''ve visited 39 states at last count, and Kentuckians are probably the most friendly and accommodating.

[stevador39]

Kentucky has ''black box voting.'' That means there is no paper trail. No One can be certain how any vote went in this state since 1976. Therefore we get scum like McConnell. I called his office about the power outage. His staff told me he could not legally intervene. Whatever that means.

[Meg003]

There is not a state in this country that is not subject to natural disasters. You people on here throwing stones at Kentucky are absurd, because your state could be next.

I''ve visited Kentucky several times for different events and conferences and found my trips especially enjoyable. The accommodations are nice, the food is great, and the people are courteous.

[hetup-2009]

What did the state do with all the money from the Daniel Boone series? If you let infrastructure go FEMA can''t be responsible to replace it. Relax your environmental laws to allow drilling and save the country. What is the problem?

[hodge123]

You people are jerks. Obviously you''ve never been to Kentucky. It''s a lovely state with beautiful rural areas and bustling metropolitan areas. We''re educated, worldly, and we take care of ourselves. We didn''t ask for 3 inches of ice and we certainly didn''t ask for most of our citizens to be without heat and electricity in the middle of winter. Unlike a hurricaine, it was impossible to know that we''d be in the situation that we''re in. I fortunately live in Louisville and do have my power. We''re one of the lucky few. Just like any other state in this country, those that live in more rural areas are at a disadvantage in a natural disaster. Even without power in Louisville, we''re not too far from a cleaned interstate, a grocery store and gas stations. It is a sad, desperate situation and sadly there will probably be much loss of life. How can you sit there and call us white trash and say we deserve it because of tobacco? I wish I could be as special as you, you bunch of high and mighty scumbags. It consoles me to know that I''m more educated, live a better life and am lucky to live in such a great state.

[smirk22-2009]

God''s wrath for tobacco production.

[edintex]

If Americans could experience life in a more cooperative, and more socially oriented nation, such as France... Life really is better when workers make a living wage, people can depend on having health care that doesn''''t force them into poor houses, and when poverty and it''''s resulting crime is low enough to live in peace.
Posted by timothyone at 02:40 PM : Feb 01, 2009

What planet do you live on Timothy? France is a REAL good example of "cooperative" living with their bombings & all, right? And all of those protests about low wages really makes them shine too?

You must be an Obama socialist type. If you like the way the people live in those other countries so much, you are cordially invited to LEAVE THE USA and go there! Please take your offspring with you so as not to pollute our gene pool.

[thedoll50]

I live in Louisiana. Not New Orleans. I can assure you if this happened in New Orleans, FEMA, and everyone else would already be there. It is ashame, but it is true. People down there brag about they "know how to work the system." As with Hurricane Rita, Gustav, and the others you are the lost souls of the USA. FEMA will not be there for you. They are still taking care of "Katrina".

[lewiston14]

Mr ExAF74 Never say never the day you sell it the next day you will need it. Happens a few years ago I bought a used geerator for somebody at work. I had osme out side work to do far from the house. Then we got that New York ice storm and for a week we lived on that thing. Furnace check no problem, Electric blanket at night check no problem, lights no problem, basement pump no problem. Frig no problem. You are right the day you think you do not need something is the day you do not have it. I now have two. One is mulity fuel everything from gas to natural gas to propane a second is smaller but able to help neighbors I pumped out alot of basements. While the scum were charging $500 I was charging a quart of oil the gas and a six pack of beer. Did you ever drink 50 year old scotch? I got that more then one place as the water in the basements went away. Keep you toy in shape at some point your going to need it. :-) And you make alot of new friends along the way.

[timothyone-2009]

"Southern white trash want more tax cuts so they can continue to overload their undernourished electrical grid with more plasma TVs. Any state that reelects scum like Mitch McConnel (R, KY) to the senate deserves to suffer!"

I agree about Mitch, he surely is the worst of the worst. The rich in KY live in concentrated areas that produce some of the very worst Republicans in the country. The education level here is so bad and the simple-minded folk buy anything the GOP feeds them. We are trying hard to improve education, but the rich stand in our way every step. Please support Obama and his efforts to improve education in America. Only with education can we mature as a nation and break the bonds of ignorance and the hate that divides us.
If Americans could experience life in a more cooperative, and more socially oriented nation, such as France, Germany, Canada, or Japan, they would understand how much the rich getting richer really hurts so many while actually benefiting so few. Life really is better when workers make a living wage, people can depend on having health care that doesn''t force them into poor houses, and when poverty and it''s resulting crime is low enough to live in peace.

[rev_miesse]

-I have never since needed it, or used it. It is still new, waiting for the power to go out, but it wont. Murphy''''s law sucks!

Posted by ExAF74 at 01:29 PM : Feb 01, 2009

I bought a 2500W generator about 7-8 years ago just because of the then low price. I used it for about 14 hrs. last year when the remnants of hurricane Ike moved through.

I''ve augmented my natural gas heat for many years with two 23,000 BTU kerosene heaters.

Murphy does suck, but the reciprocal seems to be if you are prepared for the absolute worst that can happen, 99.9% of the time you won''t have to implement those preparations.

[thedoll50]

I live in Louisiana. Not New Orleans. I can assure you if this happened in New Orleans, FEMA, and everyone else would already be there. It is ashame, but it is true. People down there brag about they "know how to work the system." As with Hurricane Rita, Gustav, and the others you are the lost souls of the USA. FEMA will not be there for you. They are still taking care of "Katrina".

[thedoll50]

I live in Louisiana. Not New Orleans. I can assure you if this happened in New Orleans, FEMA, and everyone else would already be there. It is ashame, but it is true. People down there brag about they "know how to work the system." As with Hurricane Rita, Gustav, and the others you are the lost souls of the USA. FEMA will not be there for you. They are still taking care of "Katrina".

[thedoll50]

I live in Louisiana. Not New Orleans. I can assure you if this happened in New Orleans, FEMA, and everyone else would already be there. It is ashame, but it is true. People down there brag about they "know how to work the system." As with Hurricane Rita, Gustav, and the others you are the lost souls of the USA. FEMA will not be there for you. They are still taking care of "Katrina".

[exaf74]

In 2000 we lost power for ten days & it was cold! I promised the wife never again & bought a 5000 watt generator. I have never since needed it, or used it. It is still new, waiting for the power to go out, but it wont. Murphy''s law sucks!