Keyword Exclusive — The Tornadoes Of March 2012
Supplement to “FROM THE EDITOR”
The storm, the destruction, the recovery
Storm preparation checklist
How to get help, how to give help
View storm photos
The storm, the destruction, the recovery
By early Friday morning, March 2, 2012, the weather forecasts were already ominous. All the ingredients for a major outbreak of severe weather—including hail, powerful straight-line winds, and tornadoes— were set to meet and mingle in the skies above Kentucky. Warm, moist air streaming up from the Gulf of Mexico in the south, a chunk of cold air moving down from the northwest, a fast-moving loop of the jet stream in the upper atmosphere moving east—all three masses of air moving at different speeds and different levels above the ground would create havoc.
But where?
Advance preparation
Long before warnings were issued for specific counties, Kentucky’s electric cooperatives began ramping up their preparations for dealing with any power outages caused by the predicted storms. As operations managers and office personnel planned the day’s normal work, they also reviewed their emergency response plans. Regular practice exercises throughout each year and conversations with county and state emergency management teams ensured that everyone knew each other’s responsibilities far ahead of time.
At the statewide level, other groups were beginning to move into action. Supervisors at the generation and transmission utilities (Big Rivers Electric Corporation based in Henderson, East Kentucky Power Cooperative based in Winchester, and the Tennessee Valley Authority whose service includes five distribution co-ops in southwest Kentucky) that provide electricity to local co-ops also checked their emergency plans. Their work crews would also be available to assist in the event of storm damage.
David White, safety coordinator for the Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives (KAEC), says, “As usual when forecasts for major storms begin to get specific, we send out reminder e-mails and make follow-up phone calls to our member cooperatives about the kinds of services we can provide coordinating mutual aid if they need help.”
Hour by hour on Friday, the weather grew more turbulent. Lineman and construction crews going about their normal work throughout Kentucky kept listening to their radios, watching weather radar scans on their computers, and looking at the sky. In between jobs, they talked about the help they gave and received during the last big storms—and watched the sky again.
Clarence Greene, director of Safety and Loss Prevention for KAEC, says, “The linemen and supervisors all around the state already know each other from the schools and training sessions we put on throughout every year, and they’re always ready to help each other.”
Damage reports
By late Friday afternoon the damage reports were widespread—and heartbreaking.
An EF2 tornado roared through Hancock and Breckinridge counties, then an EF1 in Warren County, and an EF0 in Meade County. Three separate tornadoes dashed through Trimble County: an EF1, an EF3, and a long-track EF4 that began in southern Indiana and crossed the Ohio River. An Ef2 tornado swept through Owen County. An EF3 tornado, which at times escalated to an EF4 with winds up to 175 mph, crashed across Grant and Kenton counties. An EF2 tornado slashed through Laurel County near East Bernstadt. An EF1 tornado touched down in Bath County.
And then the utter devastation in eastern Kentucky: some sections of the 86-mile-long path carved by the EF3 tornado that barreled through downtown West Liberty were a mile wide. Sections of the 49-mile-long trail of the tornado with 160 mph winds that ripped through Salyersville were three-quarters of a mile wide.
In Licking Valley Rural Electric Co-op’s service territory, more than 300 poles were downed or broken, several sections of high-voltage power transmission lines were downed, and four substations were knocked out of service. But the devastation to the area’s homes, businesses, schools, and farms was frightening.
And most heartbreaking of all, six people in Morgan County lost their lives. Overall, 24 people died in Kentucky, and hundreds more were injured as a result of Friday’s tornado outbreak. Family pets and farm livestock also died as a result of injuries caused by the storms.
Restoring power, rebuilding communities
With land-based phone service out in many areas, and many cell phone towers not functioning, KAEC rushed a satellite phone and manpower to West Liberty to help coordinate restoration work. Within hours of the storm’s passing, KAEC had received commitments from five other co-ops to help, with more on standby.
The satellite phone also provided a vital link as Licking Valley Co-op’s normal supply of replacement parts was used up during restoration work. KAEC personnel were able to place an order with United Utility Supply to immediately rush materials to the scene. The first semi-tractor loads of additional poles, transformers, and reels of wire arrived Saturday night for use Sunday morning with no time lost waiting.
As damage assessments continued to come in from all areas of the state, United Utility Supply sent customized orders for replacement parts to many other individual co-ops.
In the meantime, KAEC coordinated the movements of crews to the areas most in need, efficiently shifting manpower from place to place. In just one example, crews from Cumberland Valley Electric assisted first with repair work in Big Sandy RECC’s service territory, then when those were completed both Cumberland Valley and Big Sandy crews went over to Licking Valley RECC to join crews from Clark Energy, Inter-County Energy, Fleming-Mason Energy, and South Kentucky RECC already on the scene. Work crews from East Kentucky Power Cooperative arrived to help repair the damaged substations and other transmission system structures.
Despite flash flooding in some areas immediately following the tornadoes, then a heavy snowfall over the weekend, within one week the many mutual aid work crews had restored power to all meters still active.
As co-op members complete repairs to their homes and other structures, crews have continued to reconnect service to those meters. All across the state these reconnection activities are ongoing—and all crews have used lessons learned from this latest disaster to fine-tune their emergency response plans for whatever happens next.
Now is a great time to give your emergency plan a tune-up. Think about where you might be during the next severe weather event—at home, at work, at school, perhaps at church or a sports event, or driving—and what you need to do in each place.
A few minutes of planning now could save your life.
Know how to get timely and accurate weather information.
• Options include a battery powered NOAA Weather Alert Radio, a battery-powered regular AM/FM radio, as well as Code Red, a free voice and/or text messaging system available in many counties and similar notification services available on the Internet.
• Remember that satellite TV receivers and cable TV systems sometimes do not function during extreme weather events—be sure to have reliable alternatives to national media such as The Weather Channel and your local TV stations.
• Find out what outdoor siren signals in your area mean—and if you will be able to hear them if a storm is already in progress.
Talk together as you make a plan.
• Make sure each person in your group (whether that’s family members, co-workers, or your church buddies) understands exactly what he or she should do.
• Be sure to discuss each step carefully with children and grandchildren, and the elderly or others who may need extra help.
• Prepare a grab-n-go disaster kit for each person. Include things such as prescription medicines, contact lens preparations, water, and snacks.
Know where to go and how to get there.
• Figure out ahead of time if a building has a basement, or if you’ll need to go to an interior room on the lowest level, such as a bathroom or a closet. In a business, safe spots may include walk-in coolers and freezers, bank vaults, storage areas, and other sturdy places.
• Plan to leave campers, mobile homes, manufactured housing, barns, and work trailers immediately—and know how much time to allow to get to the nearest shelter in a sturdy, conventionally built structure.
• Be sure to tell a family member or friend in a different area where you will go and why. Be sure to discuss how you will get in touch with each other later if phone service is disrupted, and where you’ll meet afterward.
How to get help, how to give help
How to get help
Federal disaster assistance is available to qualified persons in Bath, Campbell, Carroll, Grant, Grayson, Kenton, Johnson, LaRue, Laurel, Lawrence, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, Ohio, Pendleton, Rowan, Russell, Trimble, and Wolfe counties.
• Contact FEMA and Kentucky Emergency Management directly (do not rely on gossip or hearsay) to get accurate information about your situation.
• To determine if you qualify for assistance (consider applying even if you think you won’t qualify) contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Online: www.fema.gov/assistance/index.shtm or www.DisasterAssistance.gov
From a tablet or smartphone: m.fema.gov
Phone: (800) 621-3362. For people with speech or hearing disabilities: TTY (800) 462-7585
In person: FEMA has a temporary office in the Kentucky Housing Corporation Building, 1084 Highway 7, West Liberty, KY 41472
How to give help
Many charitable groups are providing aid throughout Kentucky, including the American Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, God’s Pit Crew, and Christian Appalachian Project.
For more info on charitable relief work for people, pets, and farm livestock, or to find out how you can donate money or your skills, call the Kentucky Emergency Management hotline toll-free at (877) 634-8175 or go online to this Web site:
www.kyem.ky.gov/donationsvolunteers/Pages/default.aspx
Bank of the Mountains, P. O. Box 309, West Liberty, KY 41472, has established a fund with all proceeds going to Morgan County Christian Social Services; no administration fee is taken out of the donations. Checks should be made payable to Morgan County Christian Social Services, and in the “memo” line write Morgan County Tornado Disaster Relief. For further information, call Suzie Blevins at (606) 743-3141. Contributions to this fund can also be made through Commercial Bank, PO Box 635, West Liberty, KY 41472. Contact: Ashley Lykins (606) 743-3195.
Special “lost and found” services
The tornado winds that crushed buildings and uprooted trees also snatched papers and other possessions, hurled them up into the air, then carried them aloft for many miles until they dropped back down from the sky, sometimes in another state.
Two sites on Facebook are attempting to return found items to their owners:
www.facebook.com/ReturningMemoriesToTornadoVictims
or
I found your memory: www.facebook.com/groups/178934752218117/
Wedding portraits, baby pictures, diplomas, and other important memories are being matched up every day, so if you’ve lost something special to your family, you’ll want to give these sites a try.
To view a photo gallery of March Tornado Storm Damage on the Kentucky Living Flickr account, click here.
To read the Kentucky Living April 2012 column that goes along with this supplement,click here.
