Full storm recovery still months away
Crittenden County officials say full recovery from the recent ice storm will take months or longer.
While power companies Kenergy and Kentucky Utilities say virtually everyone in the county should have electricity by now, local government leaders say the clean-up and financial burden of Ice Storm 2009 will linger for a long time to come.
Judge-Executive Fred Brown said the disaster will likely end up costing Crittenden County about $1 million. City Administrator Mark Bryant said storm-related costs for the City of Marion could exceed $250,000.
"Hopefully, we will get some federal assistance. If not, it will be tough to go it alone," Bryant said. "The real cost is going to be on debris removal (see additional article)."
No city or county buildings sustained permanent damage; however, the intake for the city water system at Lake George was damaged by ice. It will have to be repaired by divers, Bryant said, which will be costly.
Perhaps the biggest issue is that local officials find themselves eyebrow deep in a sea of red tape. Locating and returning generators leased or borrowed, detailing costs of time and equipment in order to receive federal assistance and continuing to meet the needs of citizens struggling to recover from the storm, government leaders are asking for patience and resolve from the community.
Judge Brown and Mayor Mickey Alexander are asking agencies with generators procured by local governments to please return them to Marion City Hall as soon as possible. Additionally, all emergency Verizon cellular phones provided by Hodge's Sports and Apparel should be returned to city hall.
The loss of communication abilities was a primary stumbling block in the early stages of the disaster. All radio systems in the county and most land and cellular phones were disabled by the seven inches of ice and snow that dropped on the county starting before daylight on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
"We were behind the eight ball for the first day and half," said Greg Rushing, emergency management director for Crittenden County. "When you lose all of communications, it makes things very, very difficult."
Two portable satellite telephones the county had from Homeland Security funding did not work. It took almost two days for county officials to secure a working satellite phone thanks to the Kentucky State Police.
"There is no way to plan for disaster of this magnitude. We cannot stockpile enough supplies or equipment to deal with something like this," said Rushing. "However, the people of our county, the first responders and emergency personnel proved they can step up to the plate and do the job that needs to be done. We responded about as well as could be expected."
Officials from the courthouse to city hall all praised the efforts of volunteers, local emergency workers, law enforcement agencies, fish and wildlife officers and the Kentucky National Guard for their aid and assistance during the aftermath of the storm. Volunteers and extra emergency personnel did everything from providing security at banks to cooking meals for shelters and conducting welfare checks throughout the city and rural areas.
"The important thing is that we didn't lose a life," Rushing said.
Rushing said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided 88,146 bottles of water, 27,900 meals (not including locally prepared meals) and generators and electricians during the recovery effort.
The Emergency Operations Center, which officially closed Monday, responded to thousands of calls and supported the logistical command and control for the entire recovery effort in Crittenden County.
Judge Brown praised the Crittenden County School Board for its cooperation in providing a public shelter at Crittenden Elementary School and for diesel fuel. At the height of the disaster, more than 400 people had sought shelter at the elementary school.
Classes were back in session Tuesday in Crittenden County after 10 days missed due to the storm. School officials say those days will likely have to be made up in May.
"Despite everything that we were faced with, we were able to gain ground on our recovery efforts each day," Rushing added. "That was because of the great working relationship between the city, county, hospital, schools and all other agencies involved in the relief effort."
Local leaders say they learned a great deal from this disaster and will be holding a countywide evaluation session later in the spring to critically discuss the response and to determine what, if anything, can be done differently in the future.

Debris clean up left to property owners
Debris cleanup on private property in Crittenden County will be left up to property owners unless something changes in the coming days. As of now, there will be no Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) roadside cleanup in Crittenden County, according to Judge-Executive Fred Brown.
Brown appealed to residents to not leave debris piled up near roadways because it can add to dangers and flooding problems.
The City of Marion plans to pick up debris piled on curbsides in the city beginning this week. City debris should be piled away from sidewalks and drainage ditches, and 10 feet from street right-of-ways.
City Administrator Mark Bryant said Marion is considering renting a chipping machine to grind up the debris.
Judge Brown said FEMA is awarding contracts in some counties, but each county is responsible for at least 13 percent of the overall contract cost. Also, he said that counties participating in the FEMA contract are responsible for providing federal contractors with a disposal site. Brown is lobbying state and federal agencies for rights to have county road crews clean up Crittenden's debris, but so far that appeal has been denied.
Because Crittenden County could not be guaranteed a firm price for contract cleanup, Brown said the county opted out of FEMA support for debris removal. If, after a FEMA assessment, Crittenden County knows what its cost-share will be, Brown said then the county might participate in the federal clean-up contract, if it is affordable.
"We just don't know what it might cost. No one can tell us," Brown said. "We can't afford 13 percent of some high-priced government contract."
The state generally picks up 12 percent of the cost-share, but Brown said in previous FEMA-approved disasters, Crittenden has not received the state's portion and has been forced to come up with the full 25-percent match itself. FEMA pays 75 percent.
Brown said county residents are responsible for their own debris disposal at this point. However, the old county landfill is open for dumping biodegradable material such as limbs and brush. There is no charge for dumping debris.
Brown said the county is clearing county right-of-ways, but that will be the extent of local government debris removal. Right-of-way clean up will take several weeks, he said.

Power 98-100 percent restored
By the time you read this article in the newspaper, you should have electricity unless there was damage to your private service line, say officials from Kentucky Utilities and Kenergy.
The two power companies that serve Marion and Crittenden County say that electricity to their customers was 98 to 100 percent restored as of Wednesday, two weeks after the major winter storm knocked out current to everyone in the county.
While recovery and clean-up phases will continue for weeks and months ahead, Donnie Phillips, manager of the Kenergy headquarters in Marion, said some of the out-of-state crews assisting the restoration process will be leaving late this week.
"If you have lines that are still down or low lines across your property, we need to know about it," said Phillips.
If you cannot get through on phone lines, Phillips encourages residents to mail a postcard or letter to Kenergy or stop by its office on South Main Street to let someone know about those line issues.
Kenergy normally has 14 crewmen working out of the Marion office, but at times over the past couple of weeks there have been more than 300. About 135 were working in Crittenden County alone on different occasions, Phillips explained. They were repairing lines and replacing about 150 poles in this county. Kenergy has estimated that 2,500 poles were down in its 14-county service area.
Phillips said safety was a major issue in the early stages of the restoration effort and he praised the assistance of the Kentucky National Guard for its service making sure that lines and equipment were safeguarded.
The forecast of high winds this week could be an issue, Phillips said, but any outages should be brief. He also said that Kenergy will have isolated, controlled outages in order to complete additional repairs in some areas. The power could be turned off in your area for a few hours, but that should be the worst case scenario, he said.
Kenergy and KU both say that damaged poles left on private property may be taken by landowners for their use, but the power companies want any hardware from the poles.
Cliff Feltham, spokesman for KU, said about 6,000 crewmen were working statewide on lines during the restoration effort. He said major transmission lines carrying power to Crittenden County from the north and south were damaged in the storm.
"All of our main transmission lines west of I-65 were extensively damaged," he said. "Lines were on the ground and poles were broken or twisted in two."
The clean-up phase will last about two more weeks for KU, Feltham said. As for Kenergy, Phillips predicted that complete recovery from the storm could take two years.
"We will be straightening poles and tightening sagging lines for a long time," he added.
Kenergy's worst damage was between Crayne and Eddyville, Phillips said. When crews started restoring power, they began at substations and worked outward. There are three substations in Crittenden County – at Marion, Caldwell Springs and south of Sullivan.
Gov. Steve Beshear has said that at one time, nearly one-third of all of Kentucky's electricity customers were without power – 769,353 statewide. The governor called the storm and its aftermath, the worst natural disaster in Kentucky's modern history.

Scout’s honor
Local troop discovers couple in danger of asphyxiation
Scout's honor.
It's a phrase often thrown around to back a claim as the truth. But in recent days, the principles behind that maxim have taken a group of Crittenden County Boy Scouts around the county, assisting relief efforts by delivering meals and helping with the needs of shut-ins from a massive winter storm .
The daily journey that began Feb. 2 earned three 15-year-olds in David Sizemore's Boy Scout Troop 30 a lot of praise and publicity last week after the teens discovered a rural couple suffering from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. They have been credited with possibly saving the lives of George and Ann Hodge by seeking immediate medical attention for them.
"The boys could tell she wasn't acting right when they went in," Sizemore said of his scouts' awareness to particularly Ann's condition when they delivered lunch last Wednesday to the Hodge home.
When they arrived, Alex Kirby, Jake Urbanowski and Scoutmaster Sizemore's son Zach found Ann groggy and disoriented as they entered the home on Paris Cemetery Road. The disaster preparedness, first-aid and CPR training each has received in Boy Scouts of America instantly alerted them something was wrong.
Backed by their training, the teens and their Scoutmaster for the last four years convinced the Hodges to get checked out by a doctor and then called an ambulance.
"We were there first. It just worked out that way," David said humbly the day after the three boys received national newspaper and television coverage. "I'm really proud of them, though."
A silver badge hanging from David's tan uniform top reminds that Troop 30 has achieved the highest level of the Ready and Prepared Award after a year of hard work on health and safety readiness.
Ann, 67, turned out to be suffering the worst from carbon monoxide. The ill-effects from the exhaust of a gas generator running just outside the door, as well as a home sealed tightly to keep in the heat from burning natural gas, nearly did her in. She began feeling sick the day before, and the condition had worsened as the next day progressed. While she had already discovered going outside made her feel better, the Boy Scouts were the ones to convince her to get immediate medical attention.
"I really appreciate what you guys did," George Hodge, 85, told two of the three boys last Thursday when the scouts returned for another day's delivery to the couple's home.
Cracking the windows to allow for fresh air and moving a 14-year-old generator away from the house had kept George and his wife of 35 years safe after returning from the hospital on the evening the scouts discovered their condition.
"She's kind of sensitive to those things," George said of Ann, who has had her share of health troubles after having a tumor removed from her brain several years ago.
"I guess they kept me from trying to kill her," he joked.

In the limelight
Zach Sizemore and Urbanowski, both sophomores at Crittenden County High School, returned to the Hodge's home on Thursday in what the two call "the tank," an oversized, red 1985 Chevy Suburban David uses to transport his troop. David's daughter Lindsay, 12, also tagged along. Besides delivering another day's meal and helping gas up the generator, the group also wanted to check on their new friends. They had been unable to visit Ann in the hospital during her brief stay.
Kirby, who had an appointment, was unable to make the rounds with his friends last Thursday.
But the scouts and their scoutmaster had plenty of company. A news crew from WPSD TV 6 in Paducah had caught wind of the scouts' heroic efforts and tagged along as deliveries were crossed off the list given daily to David at the county's emergency operations center.
Ann, as spry as before the storm hit, gave each of the boys a big hug of appreciation when they walked through the door. George greeted the boys, too, but avoided the news crew by sneaking onto the porch. He was sporting several days worth of gray, unshaven whiskers and a hat with flaps that covered his ears from the chill.
Reluctant to accept any special recognition, David bemoaned the hold-up in getting the meals delivered as he also lingered outside. Meantime, Zach, charismatic and outgoing with a head full of blonde hair, became the self-appointed spokesman as the filming continued. Confidently and eagerly handling the interview as if it were second-nature, he spoke into the camera of the troop's actions the day before. But a more demure Urbanowski had his share of camera time, too, as he and Zach greeted Ann and helped move a fueling tank for George.
When the filming finally ended and the Hodges bid their new friends farewell, David took some time to reflect on what the attention and visibility in the community meant for not only for the entire Troop 30.
"This has been a good experience for the boys," he said.

Lending a hand
Besides the welfare checks, the scouts who did not flee southward with their families, began helping out each day last week. They cleaned the shelter at the elementary school, relayed messages of need from residents to authorities and directed shoppers through the dark at Conrad's Food Store. And those are just a sampling of the unscheduled events scouts take part in each year in addition to camp outs, summer camp and other community projects.
David, a retired Army veteran and special education teacher in Webster County schools, said little has changed about the organization since he was a Boy Scout. The principles are the same and the training still prepares boys for manhood and responsibility.
"It's been the same for over 100 years," he said of Scouts.
David even skipped classes required to become a Rank I teacher in order to help deliver food and conduct welfare checks, something he sees as more important in the scheme of things. Community is more important than self, a scout oath he lives by.
But being a scout is not easy. Each year, the scoutmaster and his 30 or so boys in the local troop struggle to raise money for their activities, and the scouts themselves are often ridiculed and treated as outcasts by their peers.
"You tell me," Zach said when asked why fellow teens target the scouts. "Maybe they think we're nerds, but I'm not a nerd."
As a freshman in high school, Zach has made straight A's and was the top freshman on the speech team, his dad proudly announced. He and Urbanowski are also members of the high school band.
"Okay, maybe I am a nerd," Zach recanted.
When he was younger, he thought about giving up the scouts. But once arriving in Tolu – where his mother Renee grew up – upon his dad's Army retirement, Zach had dedicated himself to becoming an Eagle Scout, the top rank in Boys Scouts of America. He even teaches first-aid and CPR at the annual summer camp for six weeks.
"I teach important classes like oceanography," Urbanowski countered with a bit of sarcasm.
Urbanowski, unlike his counterpart, has had no second-guessing as far as the scouts go. He's been following in his brother Josh's footsteps to become and Eagle Scout. He's counting on that to help him into college through exclusive Boy Scout scholarships.
His scoutmaster said that looks pretty good on a resume, too.
In David's four years as Scoutmaster, five of the local troop's scouts have achieved the top rank by the age of 18. Each had to complete projects that benefit their community, which have ranged from a blood drive to a horseshoe-pitching pit. Earning an Eagle Scout rank requires 21 badges, the community project and accompanying workbook.
Only one in 100 Boy Scouts will become and Eagle, David said.
"(But) a lot of the guys stick with it," he added.
Now Zach Sizemore, Jake Urbanowski and Alex Kirby – the three who potentially saved two lives last week – are poised to earn their final badge as a scout. When they do, they will join the likes of Hank Aaron, Neil Armstrong, Steven Spielberg and Gerald Ford.
And those names carry the type of integrity that gives the reassurance of "scout's honor" such meaning.

Woman pleads guilty to health care fraud
Marilyn Dameron, 52, of Marion pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Paducah Monday to charges of committing health care fraud and obstruction of a criminal investigation, according Acting U.S. Attorney Candace Hill of the Western District of Kentucky.
According to a federal court news release, Dameron operated two businesses, along with her daughter, which provided counseling services to patients in personal care homes. The two businesses operated by Dameron were Kentucky Psychiatric Services Inc., and Nationwide Psychiatric Services. Dameron was responsible for the daily operations of the businesses.    
Hill said Dameron admitted that between 2003 and 2004, she caused false billings to be submitted to Medicare on behalf of Nationwide, where she was employed as the executive director. The total amount of false billings was $67,000. After the criminal investigation began into the fraudulent billings, Dameron tried to create records which previously did not exist to cover up the false billings, the U.S. attorney said.
The current charges carry a combined maximum potential penalty of 15 years imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of up to three years. 
Dameron appeared Monday in federal court before the U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell in Paducah.
She is scheduled to be sentenced at noon, May 13 in Paducah.

City misses deadline on option for firehouse lot
Last month’s ice storm left the City of Marion scrambling to maintain vital services while the option on a desired piece of property for a new firehouse came and went.
Feb. 1 was the date set for the option to expire on a corner lot belonging to Martha Kurtz-Williams. Through a third party, the city council exercised a $5,000 hold on the property at the corner of Main and Bellville streets hoping it would be adequate to construct a new fire department headquarters. As of press time Tuesday, City Administrator Mark Bryant was still waiting on the results of an environment study of the lot to determine adequacy.
Despite the deadline having passed, Mayor Mickey Alexander said Williams has agreed to keep the selling price at $90,000 until the council makes its final decision, in part pending the outcome of the environmental survey. She was agreeable to the arrangement, Alexander said, because the circumstances of the delay were out of the city’s control.
“She’s been really good to work with us on this,” Bryant said of Williams.
The city administrator said he expects the envorionmental assessment to give the property a clean bill of health, but did not have confirmation of that at press time. He did say, however, that the council will take up the land-purchase matter at its regular meeting on Monday.
The city has been considering a new home for firefighters for several years, but stepped up the search late last year. After weighing several options and the concerns of firefighters, Williams’ lot became a council favorite. In January, the body exercised an option on the property.
The choice, though, was not without descent. At least two of the six council members – Don Arflack, a volunteer with the fire department, and Jim Brown – oppose the site for a new firehouse due to cost and concerns that the location is too congested.