By Chad Lampe, Jacque Day, Seth Helton
Lower Ohio River – With predicted historic flooding in the commonwealth, Governor Steve Beshear has issued a state of emergency. At a press conference Monday, the governor said the declaration opens up pipelines and purse strings to enable the state to get resources where they are needed as quickly as possible. Local utility companies face obstacles in this flood event. Jackson Purchase Energy Corporation is experiencing some trouble responding to customers.
Vice President of Engineering Tracey Bensley: "We're affected in two ways. We have difficulty getting to trouble spots because of flooded roadways. So in some cases we are having to rent boats to reach those trouble spots. The other way is we are having people who will call in whose homes are flooded to disconnect the power so we have (to reach) many of those locations."
Jackson Purchase Energy's main offices are under the protection of Paducah's flood wall. Benlsy says substations located in Paducah are also safe from flooding from the heavy rain.
U.S. Coast Guard officials in say they're starting to pre-stage emergency flood response equipment and capabilities. They're in communication with local emergency management response agencies for aid, search and rescue efforts in the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, as well as LBL.
Commander Claudia Gelzer is commanding officer of the marine safety unit of the Coast Guard in Paducah. She says the Coast Guard has flat-bottomed boats that can go into areas where water typically doesn't go. "You can go basically down a street that is flooded and help people that might be trapped on top of their homes on porches in higher areas. We pull them onto boats and take them to safe areas."
They have six of those boats, called flood punts, with twelve personnel on-hand, and they're planning to double that number in preparation.
In Metropolis, Harrah's officials closed the Metropolis hotel and casino at 5 PM Sunday due to rising river levels. Senior Vice President Mark Osterhaus says though the casino boat is unimpaired, the land access to the facility is obstructed by water and the parking lot is flooded. The closure, he says, is to ensure the safety of the employees and guests. They have no notice as to when the hotel and casino will reopen. Osterhaus says, they're keeping a close eye on the river.
Downriver closer to Cairo, personnel at the Olmsted locks and dam construction project are securing riverfront operations in preparation for the high water. Olmsted Resident Engineer Bill Gilmour says the water is too high for any work to take place on the river. The locks, which are designed to go under water, are currently submerged by 18 feet. Gilmour says the submergence could exceed 1997 levels if the forecast is correct.
Forecasters predict the Ohio and Mississippi will crest on May 3rd, at historic levels in Cairo and Paducah.