Storm plays havoc with Pulaski County

Local News

Related Photos

February 11, 2009

Afternoon winds damage buildings, down trees; gusts reach 60 mph

By HEATHER PYLES, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Wed Feb 11, 2009, 08:20 PM EST

Yesterday’s storm blew through the area within an hour, but it stayed around long enough to cause some damage across the county.

The storm entered Pulaski County around 3 p.m. Wednesday, and reports were soon coming into emergency services about downed trees and various types of debris blocking roadways, and there was even one report of a roof being blown off a local business.

The roof of Curt Davis Law Office, a local business located on South U.S. 27, was blown off by the force of the winds. The large metal sheet reportedly flew across four lanes of traffic on U.S. 27, luckily missing any vehicles, before coming to a rest in the Somerset Florist lot.

No one was injured.

The roof of the Tobacco Warehouse, located on University Drive, was also damaged during the storm.

Pulaski County Sheriff Todd Wood said his department received a report of a vacant mobile home being blown into the roadway on Ky. 769 near Rush Branch Road. That report came in shortly before 4 p.m.

“It was a shell of a mobile home that was picked up and blown into the road,” Wood said.

Wood said emergency crews worked quickly to clear the roadway, and he said no vehicles were damaged during the incident.

High wind gusts were reported across the county.

The Lake Cumberland Regional Airport recorded a 60 m.p.h. wind gust — about the average for the entire state.

“The highest wind gust we’ve heard of so far is 71 m.p.h., just east of Prestonsburg,” said Jackson Weather Service meteorologist Tony Edwards.

Wood said the sheriff’s department — among other emergency responders — stayed busy throughout the afternoon as they worked to clear several areas in the county of debris.

“We didn’t really have anything reported ... outside of isolated incidents,” Wood said.

Despite the seriousness of the storm, rainfall amounts were surprisingly low, thanks to the speed at which the storm was traveling, Edwards said.

“Morehead got the most rain,” he said, “but most areas got about a fourth of an inch.”

As of late Wednesday evening, emergency personnel were still working in several areas across the county to clear smaller roadways blocked by downed trees.

Edwards said the Jackson Weather Service was still receiving reports of damage from across the state yesterday evening.

“There are widespread reports of trees down,” he said.

No widespread power outages were reported as of Wednesday afternoon.

Wood said Pulaski County seemed to have been spared from receiving the more severe aspects of the storm.

“Once again, the people of Pulaski County have been very fortunate,” he said.

Strong winds were expected to continue into late Wednesday evening.

CJ Staff Writer Tricia Neal contributed to this article.

Text Only

Local News

Eubank woman keeps the faith as she battles cervical cancer
February 11, 2012 1 Photo
Congressional districts set
February 10, 2012
Kentucky exempt from NCLB regulations
February 10, 2012
Survey may attract commercial passenger service
February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Hal Rogers defends Somerset’s Streetscape project
February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Old districts are back ... for now
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the legislative redistricting debacle in Frankfort.
Judge Phillip Shepherd in Franklin Circuit Court on Tuesday tossed out the General Assembly’s controversial redistricting plans and reverted everything back to where it was before.

February 9, 2012
Fast-moving blaze guts mobile home off Slate Branch Road
February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past.

February 2, 2012
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.

February 2, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

Storm plays havoc with Pulaski County

Afternoon winds damage buildings, down trees; gusts reach 60 mph

Site Map