Ky. asks Obama to speed federal aid for ice storm

AP ^ | 02/02/09 | JOE BIESK

[TornadoAlley3]

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky's governor will ask President Barack Obama on Monday to speed up federal aid dollars as costs spiral past $45 million for emergency work to restore power, hand out water and food and clear debris across the state hit hard by an icy winter storm last week.

[numberonepal]

Here's a Katrina timeline.

[Twinkie]

You’re right! It was a CONSPIRACY of the Obama administration to KILL WHITE PEOPLE and SOUTHERNERS! The weather machine . . . that’s it!

[woodbutcher1963]

“Yet thousands of people in KY are without power in freezing temperatures and it is crickets chirping. Where is the outrage? “

There is no outrage because you are taking care of yourselves. You are not waiting for someone to come and help you.

[Stonewall Jackson]

I work in the electrical section at the Lowe's Home Center here in E-Town, KY, so I have been dealing with this storm since the first day, and I have been very impressed with how my fellow Kentuckians have coped with it.

On Saturday, two of our local electrical contractors overheard another customer talking about hooking his generator up to his main panel box (a big no-no if you don't know what you are doing), so they grabbed a banquet table, set it up by my desk, and proceeded to spend the next three hours giving demonstrations on how to safely hook your generator to your house.

Near the end of the class, a little old gentleman (I don't know how old he was, but he had a WW2-Korean War Veteran hat on) came up and asked them how much they would charge to come out and hook his generator up so that he and his wife could have electricity. Big Frank almot looked insulted by this and told the elderly gentleman that if he would purchase the parts needed, Frank would be more than happy to hook his house up at no charge. A few hours later, Frank came back in and assured me that he'd gotten the couple taken care of and that they were curled up together on their couch when he left.

This is just one of many such stories I have from this storm. People are letting neighbors and coworkers borrow $1,000+ generators, folks who could get out and about checked on their elderly or disabled neighbors and brought them food, water, and heat, and electrical contractors volunteered their time to help hook generators up at nursing homes and medical buildings.

[basil]

My heart goes out to all of you. May God be with you all.

[anoldafvet]

There hasn't been any looting to speak of, but unfortunately, there have been at least 5 deaths from carbon monoxide. Four were from generators that people had running in the basement or garage (some elements in their neighborhood were stealing them) and one was from someone using a barbeque to heat their home.

We lost power for 2-1/2 days and the house got down to 47 degrees. Our power came back on Friday evening, thanks to crews from Mississippi. The neighborhood cleared the streets of downed trees and someone used his plow to clear the street. There are homes around me where the fallen branches are 2 - 3 feet deep over the entire lot. I have some pictures of my immediate area, but unfortunately I don't know how to post them.

There are still about 100,000 people in Louisville without power. There are generators available now but there is a critical shortage of extension cords. You can't even find the cheap little six footers that you plug lamps into. We got some relief yesterday when the temperature went up into the 50's, but today it is only low 30's.

I have seen repair crews from North and South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Iowa.

[woodbutcher1963]

Make sure you unplug EVERYTHING in their/your houses with the exception of your furnace and well pump.

When the power does come back one there could/will be power surges for the first couple days.

Also, after the icestorm we had here in NH/MA the power companies had to buy thousands of transformers and thousands of miles of cable/steel. The companies that supply these only have a limited supply of these items on hand at any point. It could take longer to replace these in your area just because there was such a recent increase demand for them up here in New England.
Good luck and stay warm.

[oldvike]

Thanks. That’s very nice of you. The town I’m in is doing pretty good right now, though. It’s the poor folks in the outlying areas that are having such a tough time.

[girlangler]

Thanks.

Now let’s all send a synopsis of Bush’s actions, then Obama’s during these emergencies to every media outlet we can find!!!!

I’m also looking for Obama quotes about Katrina, the Bush response, from the recent campaign.

[Dianna]

All joking aside, we need to figure out whether Obama has declared the area a disaster, etc., what kind of assistance he has set in forth more than a WEEK after this ice storm hit.

The storm hit KY Monday afternoon through Wednesday morning. The Dem Gov asked for limited help (generators, water, kerosene, but not workers) Wednesday night and it was approved on Thursday. The KY National Guard has been fully deployed since perhaps Thursday or Friday. Today, idiot Gov has finally asked for the fully measure of help from FEMA after discovering we can't fix this within a month without assistance.

[Fu-fu2]

Great story! That’s why you won’t see it on the network news. Stories of people helping each other, not screaming for the government to help. Doesn’t fit their political agenda.....

[Crystal Cove]

Well, if you had read the article, it says that Obama signed emergency declarations last week for Kentucky, Arkansas and Missouri, and that FEMA has been in Kentucky distributing generators and water. The article also says that the state is passing the $45 million threshold for declaring a major disaster, and that the governor will now ask Obama to declare Kentucky a major disaster area.

[Iron Munro]

It’s not a serious disaster until Shep Smith and other talking heads are on location and actually crying like 4th grade girls during live coverage.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Exactly.

Frank actually made it into the news a few years ago, when he dressed up as Santa here at our store the day after Thanksgiving. He dyed his hair and beard white, rented a suit, and sat out by the Christmas section, handing out candy canes to the kids after they gave them their Christmas lists.

A few hours into this, a young boy came up, sat on his lap, and told him that all he wanted for Christmas was a tree. Frank looked over to the boy's mom for clarification, and she explained that they'd had a house fire the month before and that the insurance was only covering part of their losses, so they didn't have any money for Christmas. Frank stood up, led the boy and his mom over to the artificial trees, had them select one and the ornaments to go with it, then took them up front, where Frank proceeded to pay for the tree himself.

It made the news here in E-Town and in Louisville, which rather embarrassed Frank, who did it merely to put a smile on a young boy's face.

[Dianna]

The article also says that the state is passing the $45 million threshold for declaring a major disaster, and that the governor will now ask Obama to declare Kentucky a major disaster area.

By Wednesday night idiot Gov Beshear knew that the power outage problem was bigger than Hurricane Ike in September. By mid-afternoon on Thursday everyone was calling it the biggest disaster in KY history. The Governor didn't think it might cost more than 45 mil until TODAY?

[leenie312]

“There is no outrage because you are taking care of yourselves. You are not waiting for someone to come and help you.”

Actually, I am just a bystander up here in NY...but no stranger to ice storms. I know how bad they can be. I just think it would be a nice gesture if the president could pry himself away from his steak dinner and acknowledge what is happening in KY and surrounding areas.

[mother]

I am online via generator LOL. I will post some pics from Hopkins County {Madisonville} as soon as I get some time.

[oldvike]

Hang in there, mother.

[pillut48]

LOL!! They *did* get a bit over the top with the Katrina coverage, didn’t they?

[girlangler]

You are right, and no doubt Obama will agree to the request from the Gov. for more assistance.

“The Dem Gov asked for limited help (generators, water, kerosene, but not workers) Wednesday night and it was approved on Thursday.”

Sounds like the Gov. hasn’t responded as quickly as he should have. Had this happened under the Bush administration, no doubt it would be Bush’s fault.

Wonder why the news media is mostly ignoring this story (I’ve had Fox News on all day and heard it mentioned once)? Or why has Obama largely ignored it other than signing the original declaration?

While not concentrated in a major city like New Orleans, most of rural Appalachia, and large pockets of Kentucky (and Arkansas), are poverty areas. Many of these folks live paycheck to paycheck, day to day, and this has to be devastating for the area. However, these folks aren’t whiners, they’ll roll up their sleeves and take care of each other, rather than waiting on the govt. to save them.