A winter storm arrived in eastern Kentucky on Friday night (12/18/09) dropping twelve plus inches of wet, heavy snow. Several utilities were without power, finding themselves in an emergency situation, unable to provide water to thousands of customers. KRWA responded immediately and provided support to utilities in the following counties: Leslie, Perry, Knott, Floyd and Pike.

During this critical time, KRWA staff contacted utilities in the region to assess their need, as well as contacting the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Frankfort and the Division of Water. Contacting utilities was not nearly as difficult as it was during the 2008 ice storm, although some contacts had to be made through County Emergency Management. In addition to helping restore power to water systems in the affected area, time has also been spent assessing utility needs, providing direction on flushing, sampling and boil water advisories and troubleshooting pump station failures. As of this writing, several utilities in the area are still experiencing problems and our field staff continues providing assistance.

Many thanks go out to Wood Creek Water District, Laurel County Water District #2, Bush Fire Department (Laurel County), Laurel County Fire Department, and East Clark Water District for assisting their neighbors and providing generators to utility systems in their time of need.