While much headway has been made in the communities that greatly suffered during the December 10 and 11 tornadoes, considerable work still remains.
For families in Hopkins and Muhlenberg County, those efforts are being realized by their respective long-term disaster relief committees — which for years were, thankfully, dormant until now.
During Monday’s meeting, constituents of the Pennyrile Area Development District heard updates from both non-profit organizations…
Dr. Freddie Mayes, president of the Muhlenberg County committee, said their panel formed in 2008 following a swathe of disasters — a tornado, an ice storm, and a windstorm. Less than 48 hours after the EF-4 tornado rocked Bremen, Mayes said the group had been reactivated from hibernation — and since has met with 95 different families ranging in small losses to total devastation.
Already, Mayes noted they’ve been able to close between six and 12 cases — their needs fully met toward recovery and some sort of pre-tornado existence.
However, this leaves more than 80 families still needing some form of services — be it lodging, supplies, or both — and the loss of 11 lives in and around Bremen still looms as a tough, dark pall on the vibrant, small community.
One unforeseen blessing in this situation is the rapid outpouring of physical, financial and emotional support from west Kentucky and, honestly, across the country. Mayes said the amount of donations received hasn’t just exceeded expectations. It’s exceeded required space to store it all.
Muhlenberg County officials are currently leasing warehouse space in the region, but in an effort for more permanency — and preparation for other disasters — Mayes said the United Way and the county have combined forces to generate funding necessary for a warehouse in perpetuity. Mayes added that funding could be arriving as early as next week.
In all of this process, Mayes said the biggest learning curve in working with FEMA and other federal officials is the definition of “long term.” At the national level, Mayes said these discussions include, 5-, 10- and 15-year outlook windows.
Representing Hopkins County, committee co-chair Mike Duncan noted their biggest difficulty ahead lies in the completion of cases. More than 1,400 citizens in and around the Dawson Springs area filed for FEMA and Red Cross relief, and coming up with the number of case workers has been a challenge.
Dormant since a 2005 tornado, Duncan said their organization reconvened in early January — just three weeks after those storms — and had to start from the beginning, going as far as accepting surplus equipment from PADD to have an office.
Due to the workload that still exists, Duncan said their officials are in the middle of hiring a construction manager, some full-time case workers and an administrative assistant — who will be in charge of navigating schedules, assisting agencies and some general questions from the public.
Much like Muhlenberg County, Duncan added that donations have been so generous that they, too, are in the middle securing permanent warehouse space in Barnsley, between Earlington and Mortons Gap.
Seeing a need following these recent disasters, Christian County officials are in the midst of creating their own long term disaster relief committee.
