Winter storm sends Kentuckians to shelters

The Associated Press By The Associated Press
on January 30, 2009 at 9:28 AM

Darren Sweeney of Hartford, Ky., second from right, stands in line with others for kerosene delivery in Owensboro, Ky. Sweeney bought just two dollars worth of kerosene at the gas station before the tank was empty.

Residents displaced by a winter storm rested in every corner of a university theater, about 100 of them sprawled in aisles, propped in chairs, curled up on the stage. Some watched a movie while others settled in -- but all could sleep soundly with the heat blasting, the assurance of food and water nearby.

Among the battered crowd Thursday night were brothers Jim McClung, 42, and Dale Earnest, 38, forced to hole up in the makeshift shelter at Murray University in southwestern Kentucky. They, and many like them at hundreds of shelters in several states, ran out of food and water at their frigid, powerless home in the wake of an ice storm.

At least 1.3 million homes and businesses were without power across a wide swath of the country. Utility companies struggled through ice-encrusted debris into Friday morning as they worked to restore power, but warned it may not return until Saturday at the earliest. It could take until mid-February for some to come back online.

McClung and Earnest, both originally from Chicago, have seen their share of harsh winters. But they said this was the worst. Kentucky and Arkansas were among the states hit hardest by the blast.

"This is our first natural disaster," Earnest said.

"I had no idea the storm was going to last this long," his brother added.

They made it to the shelter only after hiking to a nearby police station and asking. Deputies trekked door-to-door in many communities to let people know where shelters were, forced to spread the word the old-fashioned way because cell phone and Internet service was spotty. In some towns, volunteers checked to make sure their elderly and disabled neighbors were all right.

Many Kentucky hotels offering discounted "power outage rates" reported being fully booked with people escaping frosty neighborhoods. Those who hunkered down in their homes face long lines to buy generators, firewood, groceries -- even bottled water because power outages crippled local pumping stations.

Truckloads of ready-to-eat meals, water and generators from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were expected to arrive Friday at a staging area in Fort Campbell, Ky., said Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman for FEMA's southeast region.

In Paducah, Amber Fiers and her neighbor Miranda Brittan tried a half-dozen filling stations before finding one where they could buy kerosene. The two were in a line that swelled to 50 or more at the 13th Street Station, which began pumping kerosene after its owner set up a generator.

"We got food, but I'm just worried about staying warm," said Brittan, who lives in Mayfield, adding she was frustrated by the search for supplies.

"By the time you hear about a place that's open they're out when you get there," she said.