More than 250,000 lack power in Louisville area
By Jessie Halladay and Dan Klepal • The Courier-Journal • September 16, 2008
With residents warned that they may have no power for up to two weeks, Louisville requested help from the National Guard to patrol darkened neighborhoods, keep traffic flowing and aid utility crews. More than 100 guardsmen have been activated to help city officials with the recovery efforts in the wake of hurricane-force winds that battered the area Sunday. Across the area, three people were killed by trees or limbs that were knocked down by the gusts."I want every Kentuckian suffering from the effects of this storm to know that the state is going to do everything we can," said Gov. Steve Beshear, who has declared a state of emergency in Kentucky. "It's the biggest outage of record in our commonwealth," he said. "It is a widespread problem and obviously a serious problem here in Louisville." The problem was serious enough to prompt area schools to call off classes for a second straight day. Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Sheldon Berman was warning parents that they should plan for a week without classes. Long lines formed at several area gas stations, fueled by residents worried that supplies would run low. Many grocery stores and other businesses remained closed.And outages continued to plague the region. Last night, fewer than 215,000 Louisville Gas & Electric customers remained without power, with officials warning residents that it might be two weeks before everyone has electricity.In Southern Indiana, 45,873 Duke Energy customers in Clark, Floyd, Harrison and Jefferson counties lacked power last night."We know this is not the news you want to hear," said Chris Hermann of LG&E. "But we're working as fast as we possibly can." By this morning, 1,100 people from LG&E are expected to be working to restore service. That includes local crews who were sent to help other states hit by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Their job is immense — LG&E has counted 5,350 downed lines, 277 snapped poles and several blown transformers. Hermann said there is no way to predict which areas will see power restored first, saying that hospitals, police and fire stations, and schools take priority.Then the company works to bring up residential areas that affect the most customers. "People should be planning for the extended period," Hermann said. Indiana utility officials warned that power outages might last until late this week or even this weekend because of the large numbers of lines broken by the storm.`Dangerous situation'While utility crews were out, Louisville public works and parks crews continued to try to clear roads of fallen trees that in many cases impeded traffic. Mayor Jerry Abramson said the main roads were cleared by early yesterday but it could take several days for all the side streets to be cleared. "This dangerous situation is not over," Abramson said. "It's not over when you have 3,000 power lines down in this community. It's not over when traffic signals are out. It's not over when kids are home from school and out playing" when there are power lines down.In Washington, Congress is expected to consider a relief bill for victims of Hurricane Ike and other recent natural disasters soon, and Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3rd District, has asked that the Louisville region be included.He did not request a specific amount because damage assessment is still being conducted in the Louisville area, according to his spokesman, Stuart Perelmuter.Residents clean upWhile government and utility crews busied themselves with cleanup, residents throughout the area continued straightening up their own messes. Today Louisville will open 10 sites for residents to dump their storm debris without charge. Early yesterday, Old Louisville neighbors Joseph Bianca and Jim Redmon started clearing up the many tree branches that had rained down on their yards. "It got a little scary," Redmon said. "I had no clue how bad it was going to get." It was the type of mess that Bianca had hoped he would not have to deal with again after moving to Louisville from Miami, where hurricane damage is more routine. "Part of why we moved here was to try to avoid this," he said. "It was certainly worse than we thought it was going to be." Yesterday, Susan Haile and her fiance, Brian Thomas, surveyed the damage at their rented house on Taylor Boulevard near Oleanda Avenue. A tree fell through their roof Sunday, pinning Haile inside her bathroom. Thomas had to pull her from the wreckage as the winds ripped through their neighborhood. "All I could do was scream," said Haile, 49. "Everything went black." She suffered two ruptured vertebrae in her neck and bruises all over her body. She had no money to fill her pain medicine prescription and no health insurance. Still, both were thankful that Haile was not more seriously injured. The couple moved here in May, and their belongings were unsalvageable, save for a pile of clothes and a family photo album. They got alternative housing with help from the American Red Cross. Because temperatures remain cool, the city hasn't opened any shelters, Abramson said. If the need arises, he said city officials will work with the Red Cross to come up with a plan. Trying to make doOthers found comfort in the face of no electricity by coping together — like the 100 or so women at The Healing Place at 16th Street and Broadway. "We were able to make fried bagels and coffee the old-fashioned way this morning," said Michelle Kraus, a peer mentor. "There are no lights or hot water, but the weather is OK, so we don't need the air conditioning right now. All in all, we're doing fine."Others weren't in quite as good a mood about the storm's aftermath.Dale and Ron Rein are tired of seeing trees fall around their house on Cannons Lane in St. Matthews. It's starting to feel like they're jinxed. Yesterday, a Ford truck owned by a tile contractor sat smashed in their driveway after a tree fell on it Sunday. The tree also damaged gutters at the house.The truck was in their driveway because nine months earlier a tornado uprooted a large tree, smashing the house into splinters and forcing the Reins to rebuild."We are down" and "running out of patience," Dale Rein said. Reporter Jessie Halladay can be reached at (502) 582-4081. Reporter Dan Klepal can be reached at (502) 582-4475. Reporters Jim Carroll, Martha Elson, Sara Cunningham, Grace Schneider and Alex Davis contributed to this report.
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