Utility crews made some progress Friday in restoring power to the more than 1.3 million homes and businesses darkened by an ice storm that crippled states from Missouri to West Virginia, but thousands were still bunking in toasty shelters because their homes had no water or heat.
At Murray University in southwestern Kentucky, brothers Jim McClung, 42, and Dale Earnest, 38, were among those resting in every corner of a university theater. Some sprawled in aisles, propped in chairs or curled up on the stage. hey, like many others, ran out of food and water at their frigid, powerless home.
"I had no idea the storm was going to last this long," McClung said.
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 in the hardest-hit areas of Kentucky and Arkansas.
"I know everybody, including myself, would like this to be over today, tomorrow or yesterday," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, who toured some of the damage Thursday. "It's going to take several days, if not weeks, to dig our way through all of this all across the state."
For some, things were getting better. About 60,000 had power restored since Thursday, and with warmer temperatures predicted for the weekend, crews could make "substantial progress" in the next few days, said Public Service Commission spokesman Andrew Melnykovich. Still, some 547,000 homes and businesses were still in the dark - including about 172,000 in Louisville.
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.
Read Article Seattlepi
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Grant Supports Disaster Preparation In Middletown Area
MIDDLETOWN — - The center of the state hasn't seen a major ice storm since 1973. The last time a hurricane set its sights on the state was Gloria in 1985.
Although both events were decades ago, officials at the Midstate Planning Agency know that luck is bound to run out. The agency recently received a grant of more than $100,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that would help Middletown and the surrounding communities served by Midstate develop a disaster mitigation plan.
The plan would evaluate "natural hazard vulnerabilities," including dams, bridges, buildings and storm culverts in the municipalities served by Midstate — Middletown, Portland, East Hampton, East Haddam, Cromwell, Durham, Middlefield and Haddam.
"It's what can we do today to prevent damage to infrastructure, buildings and roadways in the event of a disaster," said Joel Severance, Midstate emergency management planner. "We aren't here to alarm folks, but we want to be sure we are prepared regardless of the storm or its timing. This is all about preparation."
Starting in January, each town will hold a workshop to collect information from town officials and residents about vulnerable infrastructure, including sewer, water and power lines, cell towers or areas of town that are in a flood plain or have suffered repeated losses. The plan will also look at local and regional capabilities to address the vulnerabilities and list the municipalities' needs. The plan should be completed by August.
Severance said the advantage of having a plan in place is that when FEMA representatives come in after a disaster, the information will be documented.
Read Article Courant.com
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
Although both events were decades ago, officials at the Midstate Planning Agency know that luck is bound to run out. The agency recently received a grant of more than $100,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that would help Middletown and the surrounding communities served by Midstate develop a disaster mitigation plan.
The plan would evaluate "natural hazard vulnerabilities," including dams, bridges, buildings and storm culverts in the municipalities served by Midstate — Middletown, Portland, East Hampton, East Haddam, Cromwell, Durham, Middlefield and Haddam.
"It's what can we do today to prevent damage to infrastructure, buildings and roadways in the event of a disaster," said Joel Severance, Midstate emergency management planner. "We aren't here to alarm folks, but we want to be sure we are prepared regardless of the storm or its timing. This is all about preparation."
Starting in January, each town will hold a workshop to collect information from town officials and residents about vulnerable infrastructure, including sewer, water and power lines, cell towers or areas of town that are in a flood plain or have suffered repeated losses. The plan will also look at local and regional capabilities to address the vulnerabilities and list the municipalities' needs. The plan should be completed by August.
Severance said the advantage of having a plan in place is that when FEMA representatives come in after a disaster, the information will be documented.
Read Article Courant.com
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
Trauma Response Meets Disaster Preparedness
Mumbai, previously known as Bombay, is the largest city in India. Once considered an underdeveloped country, India has made significant progress. One sign of this is the recently completed Golden Quadralateral, the only highway crisscrossing India and connecting all its major cities. But development comes at a cost, as evidenced by the increased number of motor vehicle crashes along the Quadralateral.
The good news: in response to this problem, Mumbai has plans for developing an EMS system in their area to initiate early care and rapid transport of trauma patients to area hospitals. Currently these victims are delivered via common carrier or by a Good Samaritan.
The bad news: unfortunately this planned trauma system was not in place during the recent large scale terrorist attack in Mumbai that left more than100 dead and even more injured. This disaster was perpetrated by inhumane individuals using small-arms fire and explosives.
Historically, most man-made disasters produce injury, generally from explosions and/or small-arms fire. Chemical, nuclear or biological forces have been infrequently involved. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc., also generate injuries, at least initially. For these situations a systematic approach to injury care should be universally available.
By definition, a system is a group of interacting or interrelated or interdependent elements forming a complex whole. For trauma systems that are successful, this translates into a group of dedicated health-care providers and medical facilities who interact regularly, are clearly related in their commitment to treating trauma, and are dependent on the contributions from each provider and facility to achieve the optimum patient outcome. And we’re not just talking about the large trauma hospitals. The system must be inclusive; everybody plays, from the field first responder to the trauma surgeon and all the trauma-treating providers in between. And all facilities participate, from the isolated clinic to the Level I trauma center. This trauma system model has a proven track record for improving the care and survival of the severely injured patient.
The connection between trauma systems and disaster response capability is obvious and it should be considered a fundamental component for achieving disaster preparedness. Fortunately, the number of trauma systems has increased in the United States over the years despite a decrease in federal funding. Yet, as 2008 passes, there are still communities that go un-served by this organized response to injury. In a country that has to color code the terrorist threat level and spends billions on disaster preparedness, perhaps we should channel some of those resources to further propagate a structure of care that serves the injured patient day-in and day-out, thus keeping skills sharp and at the ready to provide service in the unfortunate, but certain event of future disaster.
Read Article EMS1
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
The good news: in response to this problem, Mumbai has plans for developing an EMS system in their area to initiate early care and rapid transport of trauma patients to area hospitals. Currently these victims are delivered via common carrier or by a Good Samaritan.
The bad news: unfortunately this planned trauma system was not in place during the recent large scale terrorist attack in Mumbai that left more than100 dead and even more injured. This disaster was perpetrated by inhumane individuals using small-arms fire and explosives.
Historically, most man-made disasters produce injury, generally from explosions and/or small-arms fire. Chemical, nuclear or biological forces have been infrequently involved. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc., also generate injuries, at least initially. For these situations a systematic approach to injury care should be universally available.
By definition, a system is a group of interacting or interrelated or interdependent elements forming a complex whole. For trauma systems that are successful, this translates into a group of dedicated health-care providers and medical facilities who interact regularly, are clearly related in their commitment to treating trauma, and are dependent on the contributions from each provider and facility to achieve the optimum patient outcome. And we’re not just talking about the large trauma hospitals. The system must be inclusive; everybody plays, from the field first responder to the trauma surgeon and all the trauma-treating providers in between. And all facilities participate, from the isolated clinic to the Level I trauma center. This trauma system model has a proven track record for improving the care and survival of the severely injured patient.
The connection between trauma systems and disaster response capability is obvious and it should be considered a fundamental component for achieving disaster preparedness. Fortunately, the number of trauma systems has increased in the United States over the years despite a decrease in federal funding. Yet, as 2008 passes, there are still communities that go un-served by this organized response to injury. In a country that has to color code the terrorist threat level and spends billions on disaster preparedness, perhaps we should channel some of those resources to further propagate a structure of care that serves the injured patient day-in and day-out, thus keeping skills sharp and at the ready to provide service in the unfortunate, but certain event of future disaster.
Read Article EMS1
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
Outages after quake deemed 'unavoidable'
As Hawaiian Electric Co. crews searched for clues to what triggered Friday's blackout, a report from the Public Utilities Commission concludes HECO could not have prevented a similar failure after an earthquake two years ago.
"The record indicates that the islandwide outages on Oahu and Maui were, under the conditions that existed on Oct. 15, 2006, unavoidable," the report said.
The report will allow HECO to finish processing 1,440 damage claims from that outage, a spokesman said.
Industry experts say only extensive and expensive enhancements to the grid could prevent such power disruptions in the future. That would raise electricity bills and still leave the system vulnerable to natural disasters, they say.
Meanwhile, last week's blackout has left at least 2,000 Oceanic Time Warner Cable customers on Oahu without television and phone service.
A major electrical surge to Oahu households when power resumed on Saturday damaged thousands of cable boxes, digital converters and digital video recorders that were not plugged into surge protectors.
Read Article Star Bulletin
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"The record indicates that the islandwide outages on Oahu and Maui were, under the conditions that existed on Oct. 15, 2006, unavoidable," the report said.
The report will allow HECO to finish processing 1,440 damage claims from that outage, a spokesman said.
Industry experts say only extensive and expensive enhancements to the grid could prevent such power disruptions in the future. That would raise electricity bills and still leave the system vulnerable to natural disasters, they say.
Meanwhile, last week's blackout has left at least 2,000 Oceanic Time Warner Cable customers on Oahu without television and phone service.
A major electrical surge to Oahu households when power resumed on Saturday damaged thousands of cable boxes, digital converters and digital video recorders that were not plugged into surge protectors.
Read Article Star Bulletin
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
Will Natural Gas Continue to Drop?
A week that was ill-attended even by holiday standards with little volume and less news. While the markets did little before Christmas that wasn’t reversed on Friday there are a couple of interesting data points to take away.
1) Rig Counts Continue To Fall. Not unexpectedly, both gas and oil counts fell again last week. What is interesting to see is the stronger than to date seen dip in horizontal rig activity. This is where your big wells come from, be it oil from the Bakken or natural gas from any one of a number of supply / demand busting equation (at least that’s the perception) shales. Take away the horizontal activity and U.S. onshore production will follow all the more quickly.
2) Gas In Storage Fell With Cold Weather, Again … Ok, usually that’s a given. But three weeks ago it appeared the wheels had come off the Industrial natural gas demand train as big heating degree day readings translated into sub par storage withdrawals. Then the last two weeks of cold and an eradication of the front six months contango disincentivized traders from storing gas and selling it later and wa-la, average-ish storage withdrawals.
3) … And Natural Gas Noticed… Again, usually not a big deal for gas to move up into colder spells during the winter but so far no joy until this past week. The week just past is likely to show warmer temps when the numbers are out on Monday, so this little rally of last Tuesday ("Gas-OPEC’s" first meeting) and Wednesday may not be sustainable through the arrival of this week’s storage number, but we appear to be putting in a floor.
4) …But The Natural Gas Monthly For October Revealed A Mixed Bag for Production. The Gulf of Mexico was still far from recovered from September’s stormy weather so I won’t give them much thought except that they continue to decline. Texas suffered from power outtages in September but was more than recovered in October, setting a new state gas produciton record at 20 Bcfgpd. Notably Oklahoma and Wyoming, two important and recently growing states, eased slightly in October and who can blame them given the differentials they are getting they should take a breather on new wells. I don’t expect to see a reaction in the supply math to those falling rigs until the February or March numbers are out) but I’ll have more comments in Monday’s piece with more thoughts there.
5) Last but not least, oil fell again even as OPEC threatened to hold another emergency rate slashing meeting for mid January. Stories are circulating that this time they mean it. We’ll see. The market liked news that production cuts out of several names were being confirmed by Asian crude buyers on Friday giving crude its best performance since the day before the last disaster of an OPEC meeting, albeit under very light trading conditions (less than one-third of normal volumes). Analysts and those traders that like to go on TV are for the most part setting their sights on numbers like $25 for 2009 I think with the intention of getting numbers too low so that they can offer the pleasant surprise of raising company numbers in the case of the former and get long before they suddenly pronounce the light at the end of the tunnel to be a candle and not a train in the case of the later. Since it's end of the year prognotication time, I’ll be adding my guesstimate for prices (for natural gas too) in posts this week.
If I don’t see you in comments this week have a happy and safe remainder of 2008 and a more prosperous 2009.
Read Article Seeking Alpha
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
1) Rig Counts Continue To Fall. Not unexpectedly, both gas and oil counts fell again last week. What is interesting to see is the stronger than to date seen dip in horizontal rig activity. This is where your big wells come from, be it oil from the Bakken or natural gas from any one of a number of supply / demand busting equation (at least that’s the perception) shales. Take away the horizontal activity and U.S. onshore production will follow all the more quickly.
2) Gas In Storage Fell With Cold Weather, Again … Ok, usually that’s a given. But three weeks ago it appeared the wheels had come off the Industrial natural gas demand train as big heating degree day readings translated into sub par storage withdrawals. Then the last two weeks of cold and an eradication of the front six months contango disincentivized traders from storing gas and selling it later and wa-la, average-ish storage withdrawals.
3) … And Natural Gas Noticed… Again, usually not a big deal for gas to move up into colder spells during the winter but so far no joy until this past week. The week just past is likely to show warmer temps when the numbers are out on Monday, so this little rally of last Tuesday ("Gas-OPEC’s" first meeting) and Wednesday may not be sustainable through the arrival of this week’s storage number, but we appear to be putting in a floor.
4) …But The Natural Gas Monthly For October Revealed A Mixed Bag for Production. The Gulf of Mexico was still far from recovered from September’s stormy weather so I won’t give them much thought except that they continue to decline. Texas suffered from power outtages in September but was more than recovered in October, setting a new state gas produciton record at 20 Bcfgpd. Notably Oklahoma and Wyoming, two important and recently growing states, eased slightly in October and who can blame them given the differentials they are getting they should take a breather on new wells. I don’t expect to see a reaction in the supply math to those falling rigs until the February or March numbers are out) but I’ll have more comments in Monday’s piece with more thoughts there.
5) Last but not least, oil fell again even as OPEC threatened to hold another emergency rate slashing meeting for mid January. Stories are circulating that this time they mean it. We’ll see. The market liked news that production cuts out of several names were being confirmed by Asian crude buyers on Friday giving crude its best performance since the day before the last disaster of an OPEC meeting, albeit under very light trading conditions (less than one-third of normal volumes). Analysts and those traders that like to go on TV are for the most part setting their sights on numbers like $25 for 2009 I think with the intention of getting numbers too low so that they can offer the pleasant surprise of raising company numbers in the case of the former and get long before they suddenly pronounce the light at the end of the tunnel to be a candle and not a train in the case of the later. Since it's end of the year prognotication time, I’ll be adding my guesstimate for prices (for natural gas too) in posts this week.
If I don’t see you in comments this week have a happy and safe remainder of 2008 and a more prosperous 2009.
Read Article Seeking Alpha
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
In difficult times, give freely to assist others
community food banks, or we work with our community organizations to find a family that can share our home for a short period of time.
That was the case recently in the North Druid Hills area of DeKalb County when a senior citizen needed some extra income and was matched with a young couple who had lost their home to foreclosure. In this case, the Housemate Match program at the Marcus Jewish Community Center matched the couple with a senior citizen in the Toco Hills Naturally Occurring Retirement Community.
Now an elderly woman has some extra cash, some company in her home, and someone to drive her to doctor’s appointments. And, a young couple has some breathing room to find new jobs and permanent housing.
As we struggle through today’s economic challenges, nonprofits worry that contributions to fund charitable work will decline as we all tighten our belts. But consistently, it’s during the tough times that the strength and resilience of our community surfaces.
If history is any indicator, I believe that our fellow citizens will respond generously to help the most vulnerable among us.
Over the past 50 years, research shows that charitable giving has stayed constant or even increased during economic downturns.
Surveys this fall from other nonprofit groups show similar figures. Individuals, corporations and foundations continue giving throughout economic downturns, and in many cases actually give more in support of specific needs.
I have confidence in the generosity of the Atlanta community and believe that in spite of difficult times, our community will heed the call of the most vulnerable among us.
Rabbi Hillel urged us to remember those in need and not to separate ourselves from the community. He also wrote the following powerful challenge for these, and for all, times:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?”
> Steve Rakitt is president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
Read Article ajc.com
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
That was the case recently in the North Druid Hills area of DeKalb County when a senior citizen needed some extra income and was matched with a young couple who had lost their home to foreclosure. In this case, the Housemate Match program at the Marcus Jewish Community Center matched the couple with a senior citizen in the Toco Hills Naturally Occurring Retirement Community.
Now an elderly woman has some extra cash, some company in her home, and someone to drive her to doctor’s appointments. And, a young couple has some breathing room to find new jobs and permanent housing.
As we struggle through today’s economic challenges, nonprofits worry that contributions to fund charitable work will decline as we all tighten our belts. But consistently, it’s during the tough times that the strength and resilience of our community surfaces.
If history is any indicator, I believe that our fellow citizens will respond generously to help the most vulnerable among us.
Over the past 50 years, research shows that charitable giving has stayed constant or even increased during economic downturns.
Surveys this fall from other nonprofit groups show similar figures. Individuals, corporations and foundations continue giving throughout economic downturns, and in many cases actually give more in support of specific needs.
I have confidence in the generosity of the Atlanta community and believe that in spite of difficult times, our community will heed the call of the most vulnerable among us.
Rabbi Hillel urged us to remember those in need and not to separate ourselves from the community. He also wrote the following powerful challenge for these, and for all, times:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?”
> Steve Rakitt is president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
Read Article ajc.com
Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys
