Lt. Gov surveys storm damage, grateful for emergency response

Apr. 3—CANNONSBURG — Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman said it was nothing short of a miracle the area experienced no fatalities during a stop in Boyd County on Wednesday afternoon to survey damage in the fallout of Tuesday's storm.

At Boyd County's emergency management command center, drone footage capturing the storm's destructive path was displayed on wall-to-wall televisions.

Local representatives, emergency management team members and Coleman encircled the command center's conference tables as camera footage showed the approaching Tuesday morning storm, mimicking a slow rolling fog from the west before the storm battered the area.

Boyd County Emergency Management Director Tim England said his team received a warning out of Carter County on Tuesday morning, saying the neighboring county had just been hit and for Boyd County to buckle up.

In one example, footage gathered from the command center's tower cameras showed England fueling up his vehicle, where he recalled no sooner than he backed into a parking spot, the storm broke loose, throwing about trashcans and ripping metal off nearby industrial buildings. Another camera's recording was interrupted by the command center tower's partial collapse.

England said the center recorded a high of 102 mph winds which caused "pockets" of destruction in the hardest hit areas, including places in Rush and Ironville.

With Coleman watching damage from captured drone footage, England outlined areas he said took the brunt of the straight line winds, including downed tree lines, collapsed barns, rolled mobile homes and twisted steel throughout Boyd neighborhoods.

The footage showed a clear path through hollers where wooded areas and ridgelines were flattened in the storms wake.

England said the majority of Wednesday included land surveys from the National Weather Service and from local emergency management to determine the hardest hit areas, which England and video footage suggested was near Ky. 5 in the Summit and Ironville areas.

The jarring imagery out of Ironville included a home ripped apart and a mobile home thrown on its top, which England said was the first area to request assistance.

With public reports still coming in, England and his team were still working to determine the areas with extensive damage.

Daniels Fork, Long Branch, Southern Hills, Pigeon Roost, Deer Park and Rose Road and areas near Ky. 168 were already defined as the hardest hit. England said surveyors were still determining whether they were affected by the same cell or concentrated "tornadic" path.

England said NWS surveyors were on the ground Wednesday to determine damages and strength of possible tornadic activity.

As for the command center itself, England said the sheet metal building and others around it sustained damages but were overall "pretty lucky" given the number of industrial buildings in the proximity, including the county's coroner office, which only experienced power outage.

England said about 3,000 customers were without power in the area on Tuesday but power companies were "slowly but surely" working on restoration into Wednesday.

Data at the command center showed more than 12,000 Kentuckians were still without power but was steadily dwindling from 15,000 earlier Wednesday.

Dustin Heiser, interim director of operations with Kentucky Emergency Management said NWS had confirmed six tornado touchdowns across the state, but anticipated the number could grow to seven or eight as the NWS completed ground surveys.

Coleman said Gov. Andy Beshear's administration is no stranger to natural disasters, recalling the 2022 summer of flooding in the southern part of the state and deadly tornadoes in the west.

Coleman said there was a common theme when destruction has struck in the state, Boyd County's emergency management team was there to help.

Coleman told England and his team she recalled seeing a host of red T-shirts in Letcher County during flood cleanup, where Kentuckians from all over heard the calls for help from the devastated communities.

With red not a color associated with Letcher County athletics, Coleman said she inquired about the team of red T-shirts, learning it was members of Boyd County who had made the trip to offer immediate aid.

"This time it's you," Coleman said, adding the state was ready to repay Boyd County in their time of need, "We're seeing this all across Kentucky. This is what we do."

Coleman said the state was fortunate to only report one weather-related fatality out of northern Kentucky. She added physical damage can be fixed or replaced.

Heiser said the Boyd County area likely didn't experience a loss of life due to the emergency management team's preparedness and communications to the public.

"They took it seriously and did what they needed to do," Heiser said. "Preparedness and staying weather aware and your team kept them informed."

Judge-Executive Eric Chaney spoke highly of England and Boyd's emergency management.

"This team is the best in the state and I'd put them up against anybody," Chaney said.

Sen. Robin Webb was also in attendance during Wednesday's brief, where she said she sleeps comfortable at night knowing England is on her team.

Coleman said on behalf of Beshear, who was visiting other hard hit areas in central Kentucky on Wednesday, "We are grateful for your response."

Coleman added Beshear's repeated and comforting phrase heard throughout the pandemic, flooding, mass shootings and storms that rocked the state in the past five years: "We'll get through it and we'll get through it together."

(606) 326-2652 — mjepling@dailyindependent.com