Central Weathers the Storm

    Life has pretty much returned to normal for most of us in Central.  Other than piles of debris and downed trees, not much  remains to show the impact of Tropical Storm Isaac on our city.  This is due in a great part to those people who worked round the clock during the worst of the storm and afterwards to help Central get back on its feet. 

    Entergy spokesperson Dana McKearn said that at the height of the storm over 7500 customers in Central were without power.  The majority of these had power restored by last Sunday.  16,000 contractors and mutual assistance utility companies from 12 states, including Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, arrived before the storm to assist Entergy.  "It is important to remember that power restoration takes typically 2 days from the time the storm passes to begin," said Ms. McKearn.  "During the storm, winds are too high to allow our employees to work safely, and the day after the storm passes teams go out throughout the area and do damage assessment." Once repairs are prioritized, work crews are then assigned areas to cover.

    Demco representative David Latona said that the only customers in the Demco area whose power has not been restored are in flooded parts of Livingston Parish.  "At the peak of the storm, we had 70% of our members without power.  We brought in 700 additional crew members from other cooperatives and contractors and had 234 Demco employees all working on restoring power.  Crews came from Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, and Oklahoma to help out.   100% of Central has been restored," Mr. Latona stated.

    Central Community School System reported no damage to any buildings.  "We had a generator go out at Tanglewood Elementary," said Tracy Barnes, Mike Faulk's secretary, "but we immediately sent out maintenance crews who had it repaired quickly with no loss of frozen food."  Central Private School reported minimal flooding and no building damage.

    Capt Derek Glover of the Central Fire Department said that they were called upon during the storm when trees fell on houses.  4 homes in Central suffered damage from fallen trees.  The CFD responded and made sure that no natural gas pipes had ruptured in attics to avoid fire and helped the homeowners tie down tarps to keep water damage to a minimum.  "We worked with City Services to get roads unblocked and to barricade roads with live power lines down," Capt. Glover reported.  The other issue CFD faced was the house fire early Friday morning caused by a generator (see page 3).  The Junior Firefighters were also put into action, helping citizens bag sand.  "We used 10 truckloads of sand at the Sullivan Road Station alone."

    Central Police Department Chief Doug Browning was grateful to the Central community for observing the curfew and keeping the roads clear during the storm.  "It was a blessing, because it allowed our cruisers to go where they needed to go," said Chief.  "It was typical of Central, neighbors came out to help move downed trees, everyone worked together.  We're very pleased also with how well we coordinated with the Sheriff's office."

    Central Mayor Mac Watts said that bids went out this week for contractors to clear the debris left by Isaac. "We will be getting bids back this week, and expect to begin cleanup as early as next week," said Mayor Watts, "We have much less debris this time than that left by Gustav.  We had to make 3 passes to collect all the debris then; now we expect one pass will get it all picked up.  We will announce the pick up dates."  Mayor Watts noted that this time "we were so much better coordinated.  We had trees blocking Wax Road, Sullivan Road, and Gurney Road.  All but Gurney, which was complicated with a live power line, were cleared within an hour.  We worked with the CFD and the Sheriff's office very smoothly."  Mayor Watts noted that Central's preparedness stemmed from the fact that the initial planning meeting for emergency preparedness was held back in early June.  The plan was all in place when Isaac decided to tour Central, and every branch of the City's services was prepared and ready.  All branches will be meeting later this week to analyze the system and note where improvements might be made. The Mayor would also ask that when you stack your debris, please keep it away from mailboxes and poles and do not stack it in ditches or the roads.  

    Central was fortunate indeed not to suffer the ravages faced by our neighbors to the south and east.  Thankfully the worst of the storm bypassed us entirely, but credit is due to our public servants and utility companies, whose care and dedication kept our lives running as normally as possible despite the adverse conditions.