Power went out Tuesday morning January 27th. We got power back at my house yesterday the 4th and back on here at the office today. We're the fortunate ones, as 75% of this county is still w/o power. I think this county was the hardest hit in the whole state from what I hear.
Fema and the National Guard have taken over the grade school parking lot and set up communication towers, food tents, about a dozen sleeping trailers. Last night when I drove by there were about 40 bucket trucks parked side by side with the booms half raised as they rested in the trailers. Yesterday I counted one convoy of 50 bucket trucks roll in at one time. they had names painted on the side "Pike". I think they are from the East coast somewhere, maybe N.C. There's 100 Kentucky Utilities employees came in yesterday. I've heard estimates of 1,000-1,200 linemen working here in Clinton. That's a lot for a little town of 1,000 people.
I'll probably get boo-ed for what I'm about to say, but, I'll say it anyhow. Sending the National Guard and Fema in is the most ridiculous waste of tax payer money I've ever seen in my life. Kids are driving around in Camo Hummers and HUGE army type vehicles with absolutely nothing to do. I've seen convoys of 50-60 vehicles roll by. The N.G is supposedly here to keep the peace. Fema, I'm not really sure of. They did bring in some much needed generators for nursing homes, critical structures, and government buildings. They were about a week late in doing it in my opinion. I figure if we made do for a week, we don't need them now.
A typical story I heard from my neighbor goes like this. A FEMA employee knocks on the door of a 75 y/o widowed lady far out in the county. They told her who they were, and why they were there. They had a case of water for her, and a crate of food. She politely informed them she was doing a'ight, & that her neighbor had brought her a generator and made sure she's taken care of. Her water well was powered by the Generator, and her refrigerator was working. She had propane heat and was toasty warm. She had 1/2 a beef in the freezer, vegetables put up from the garden, and thanks very much, but take the food and water to someone who needs it. He shook his head and told her people around here are the most independant people he'd ever seen in his life. Whenever he takes a supply truck to hand out food and water at some of this country's cities, chaos breaks out, and it's almost a riot amonge the people, fighting to get the supplies.
Quite the opposite are the linemen who come in to assist. They have been working 24 hours a day in some extreme cold and damp conditions. They have a job to do, restore power, and they are gettin-her done. I've heard of some local people mad because they didn't get power restored quick enough. There's no way they can be everywhere at once. I think they've done a tremendous job.
I suppose the chaos and inefficiencies of FEMA and the N.G are typical of natural disasters like this. I suppose they did assist governments and utility companies in allowing the linemen to do their job. But it sure reminds me of how wastefully the government spends our tax dollars.
I've always believed that a person needs to be able to fend for themselves, especially in situations like this. If nothing else, my beliefs were confirmed.
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Topic: Heartland Blasted by Ice (Read 5465 times)