Strong weather causes trouble for many in Pulaski County

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December 9, 2009

By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Wed Dec 09, 2009, 08:43 PM EST

Winds reaching as high as 50 m.p.h. whipped through Pulaski County yesterday, leaving a trail of damage in many areas.

A teen girl and her unborn baby were killed yesterday afternoon after they were trapped under a fallen tree near downtown Somerset. (See related article.) There were no other reports of injuries.

A local marina which had already been obliterated by heavy rains last spring was damaged once again when winds ripped the boat dock apart and caused a portion of a roof to collapse.

The Buck Creek Boat Dock at Omega Park was damaged last May by rapidly rising waters. Yesterday, Gigi Zink, who owns the dock with her husband, Willy, said the winds at the dock were so heavy that she thought a tornado was coming.

The dock containing several houseboats was blown to the opposite side of the lake, the marina’s walkway was “all broken to pieces,” Zink said, and a covered part of the marina sustained damage to its roof — in the same area where the roof collapsed in the spring.

“This is a bad spot for a marina,” Zink said. “We didn’t have this when we were at Buck Creek.”

The Corps of Engineers forced the Zinks to move their marina about eight miles upstream from its original location several years ago when the water level of Lake Cumberland was lowered as repairs began at Wolf Creek Dam. The Zinks have now experienced two costly disasters at their marina — neither of which could be covered by their insurance since the damage was a result of “acts of God.” Zink said the Corps of Engineers hasn’t helped her and her husband through either disaster, either.

“I’m at the end of my rope and the end of my pocketbook,” a frustrated Zink said yesterday evening. She and her husband are now considering selling the marina.

Today, the Zinks will begin the process of permanently moving their boat dock across the lake, where there is an “elbow” in the shoreline to shelter the dock from the wind.

Elsewhere in the county, trees and limbs were blown down and several power outages were reported.

Pulaski County Public Safety Director Tiger Robinson was out of town yesterday, but he said he heard that a tree had fallen onto a house in the Oak Hill area. A dispatcher at the 911 Communications Center couldn’t confirm that report.

The windy day followed a day of heavy rains, which, according to meteorologist Anthony Richey of the Jackson Weather Center, contributed to the number of fallen trees.

“Because of the rain that fell on the previous day, the top soil level was very shallow,” Richey said. “So when the trees started rocking in the wind, it didn’t take much for them to tumble down.”

The previous day’s rains caused minor flooding in several areas of Pulaski County, including a portion of the Ridge Hill Trails subdivision off Thurman Road and areas on South Coal Pit Road in Shopville.

Richey said his office had received several reports of “extensive damage” in this part of the state.

Winds at the Lake Cumberland Regional Airport off Monticello Street in Somerset were recorded at 50 m.p.h., Richey said.

“This was not a typical event at all for this time of year,” he said. “We get stronger winds at times, but it’s unusual that it was this widespread.”

Richey said the high winds were caused by a rapid decrease in atmospheric pressure in the area.

The same system created snowstorms in other areas of the nation, but no wintry weather is expected here, Richey said — at least not this week.

“We should see a layer of low clouds (Wednesday night), and then those will move out and things will clear up,” he said.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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