sparebulb
05-17-2009, 08:24 PM
A small town in northeastern Missouri suffered from a tornado last week. Check out the highlighted paragraph from Missouri's Chief Executive (Fascist in Chief).
http://www.kirksvilledailyexpress.com/news/x529244235/Gov-Nixon-declares-emergency
Gov. Nixon declares emergency
By (Jason Hunsicker/Kirksville Daily Express)
KIRKSVILLE — A State of Emergency has been declared in Adair County, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday as he toured the areas in northern Kirksville wrecked by a tornado.
The governor confirmed Kirksville a disaster area after he was briefed in the afternoon at the Kirksville Police Department.
Nixon arrived by plane and toured Jim Robertson’s auto dealership, Lakeside Estates and damage sites in Novinger, Mo.
Eight deaths have been reported in Missouri with two in Adair County since Wednesday evening.
As soon as Nixon stepped out of his escorted squad car at the police department, he was met by Carol Billington and her grandson Adam.
Billington explained to the governor she never received any severe weather warnings because local television stations are unavailable on her satellite service.
“I had no idea, no idea, what was occurring when he was out playing in the yard,” she said as she pulled her 10-year-old grandson closer. “There was no warning on my TV, nothing.”
Billington, who lives in a mobile home on Youngstown Trail, was notified via telephone by her husband who was driving home.
“I still wasn’t sure what was going on, but when he came home there was a tornado very close to where we live and we were trying to figure out if we should go to the ditch behind our mobile home,” she said.
Billington kept her grandson out of school for the day to talk to the governor.
“This is just a public safety issue...I dread to think of the possibilities,” she stated. “We missed that tornado by less than two miles.”
Nixon told Billington emergency management officials would look into the situation.
While damage assessments are ongoing, Nixon says restoring power is the greatest necessity.
“The most important thing to do at this time is to get folks’ power back,” Nixon said. “We are still in recovery mode until we have all of the power back and until the damage assessments are completed.”
Electrical crews from AmerenUE are working around the clock to restore power to Adair County.
Crews from Iowa and Illinois have assisted local officials in getting the community back online.
Holly Wipfler of AmerenUE said approximately 1,400 customers are without service in Green City, Greencastle and Novinger. The company had hoped to restore power by later today, but weather conditions have slowed the process.
Wipfler said she believed all power had been restored to customers within the Kirksville city limits. If Kirksville city customers are without power, they should contact AmerenUE at 1-800-552-7583.
Nixon signed the executive order to declare the state of emergency and also waived the DNR cleanup rule to expedite the recovery process.
The order mobilized Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency.
Kirksville Fire Chief Randy Behrens said thanks to Nixon’s actions, joint state and federal damage assessment teams have formed and will be evaluating the damage Friday afternoon.
He said they will take all the information and write a damage assessment report which will be sent to the governor, who will then in turn forward to President Barack Obama, with the hopes he will declare the area a federal disaster area.
“That really gets the money rolling into the towns for rebuilding,” Behrens said.
In the meantime, Behrens said they can request aid from the state emergency office, and did so yesterday when boxes were needed.
“They called back in about three hours and told us we had a line of credit to get as many boxes as we needed,” he said.
Until the federal disaster funds are available, Nixon says local officials are there to keep people safe.
“Showing the badge is important in these situations,” he said. “Missourians need to know that even when there are natural disasters of this nature that we are going to follow the rules and follow the law.
“People are going to stay safe.”
Nixon also addressed the situation in Novinger, where residents are coping with the second natural disaster in the past year after heavy flooding last July.
He credited the quick response of volunteers and the Red Cross for keeping people safe in rural parts of Missouri.
After visiting the auto dealership, Nixon headed across the street to Lakeside Estates.
Some residents were relieved Nixon saw the damage sites.
“It is good they came to see what problems we have,” said Jan Filbert, a Lakeside resident who was busy running a food pantry for cleanup workers.
“People have been working really hard,” she said. “A lot of volunteers have been out here along with a lot of people I know.”
http://www.kirksvilledailyexpress.com/news/x529244235/Gov-Nixon-declares-emergency
Gov. Nixon declares emergency
By (Jason Hunsicker/Kirksville Daily Express)
KIRKSVILLE — A State of Emergency has been declared in Adair County, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday as he toured the areas in northern Kirksville wrecked by a tornado.
The governor confirmed Kirksville a disaster area after he was briefed in the afternoon at the Kirksville Police Department.
Nixon arrived by plane and toured Jim Robertson’s auto dealership, Lakeside Estates and damage sites in Novinger, Mo.
Eight deaths have been reported in Missouri with two in Adair County since Wednesday evening.
As soon as Nixon stepped out of his escorted squad car at the police department, he was met by Carol Billington and her grandson Adam.
Billington explained to the governor she never received any severe weather warnings because local television stations are unavailable on her satellite service.
“I had no idea, no idea, what was occurring when he was out playing in the yard,” she said as she pulled her 10-year-old grandson closer. “There was no warning on my TV, nothing.”
Billington, who lives in a mobile home on Youngstown Trail, was notified via telephone by her husband who was driving home.
“I still wasn’t sure what was going on, but when he came home there was a tornado very close to where we live and we were trying to figure out if we should go to the ditch behind our mobile home,” she said.
Billington kept her grandson out of school for the day to talk to the governor.
“This is just a public safety issue...I dread to think of the possibilities,” she stated. “We missed that tornado by less than two miles.”
Nixon told Billington emergency management officials would look into the situation.
While damage assessments are ongoing, Nixon says restoring power is the greatest necessity.
“The most important thing to do at this time is to get folks’ power back,” Nixon said. “We are still in recovery mode until we have all of the power back and until the damage assessments are completed.”
Electrical crews from AmerenUE are working around the clock to restore power to Adair County.
Crews from Iowa and Illinois have assisted local officials in getting the community back online.
Holly Wipfler of AmerenUE said approximately 1,400 customers are without service in Green City, Greencastle and Novinger. The company had hoped to restore power by later today, but weather conditions have slowed the process.
Wipfler said she believed all power had been restored to customers within the Kirksville city limits. If Kirksville city customers are without power, they should contact AmerenUE at 1-800-552-7583.
Nixon signed the executive order to declare the state of emergency and also waived the DNR cleanup rule to expedite the recovery process.
The order mobilized Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency.
Kirksville Fire Chief Randy Behrens said thanks to Nixon’s actions, joint state and federal damage assessment teams have formed and will be evaluating the damage Friday afternoon.
He said they will take all the information and write a damage assessment report which will be sent to the governor, who will then in turn forward to President Barack Obama, with the hopes he will declare the area a federal disaster area.
“That really gets the money rolling into the towns for rebuilding,” Behrens said.
In the meantime, Behrens said they can request aid from the state emergency office, and did so yesterday when boxes were needed.
“They called back in about three hours and told us we had a line of credit to get as many boxes as we needed,” he said.
Until the federal disaster funds are available, Nixon says local officials are there to keep people safe.
“Showing the badge is important in these situations,” he said. “Missourians need to know that even when there are natural disasters of this nature that we are going to follow the rules and follow the law.
“People are going to stay safe.”
Nixon also addressed the situation in Novinger, where residents are coping with the second natural disaster in the past year after heavy flooding last July.
He credited the quick response of volunteers and the Red Cross for keeping people safe in rural parts of Missouri.
After visiting the auto dealership, Nixon headed across the street to Lakeside Estates.
Some residents were relieved Nixon saw the damage sites.
“It is good they came to see what problems we have,” said Jan Filbert, a Lakeside resident who was busy running a food pantry for cleanup workers.
“People have been working really hard,” she said. “A lot of volunteers have been out here along with a lot of people I know.”