Things look grim for a lot of us now. Its been days since the power went out, I managed to get to a hotel fortunately. Those funds are running out, but in all honesty, I can manage the cold. A lot of people, unfortunately, just can't. For this to happen in the middle of what is reported being one of Kentucky's worst storms, and for the power companies to leave us like this, is unacceptable. Sadly people have already lost their lives because of this storm.
Im not too sure what to say now, really. Six months ago, probably less, this same area experienced a week long power outage, and we're going through it again. Lots of us feel without hope. Obama sent FEMA help to 61 counties here, mostly focusing on the more rural areas where power could take weeks to restore.
But things are bad, very much so. Curfews have been imposed, roads completely closed, people told to leave their darkened homes because no help was coming. Even living adjacent to a school and hospital did not help getting my power back, which makes me highly concerned for those with less valuable public buildings around them.
In the end though, this is just really scary stuff. The idea that a single, if big, ice storm could do this shakes all my confidence, what little there was after fall, that power here will stay on. The numbers of outages go up and down, seemingly at random, but always hovering around half a million. Reports of deaths, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning, have started to come in.
People have to be sure they dont use generators, charcoal grills, or any sort of thing inside their home for heating. This is currently our biggest cause of death here, and must be addressed somehow. That people after all this time dont know the dangers of carbon monoxide frightens me, and I fear we'll see the numbers keep going up.
If you have friends in the kentucky/indiana/w. virginia area, check up on them if you can. We're all pretty scared, waiting for outside help, but for some its already too late. Find tips on carbon monoxide poisoning and give them to your contacted friends, places to stay warm and open hotels are good too, anything to get the more vulnerable people out of the cold. When I run out of funds and have to go back to Louisville on Monday, i'll be bummed, and very cold but I know in the end I'll be fine. But for those who might not be, we need your help. Contact state and federal level politicians maybe, the electric company powering the area, and its german parent E.CO, and ask for more to be done. I really dont know what else anyone could do for us, but the most important thing is making sure those you care for are okay. This is a tough time here, and we'll get through it, but with the help of good people it will go so much better.
Im burnt out, its a lot of work to keep my spirits up here. Good luck everyone else in the frozen states, hopefully it wont be much longer.
[EDIT] Update below.
Through some investigation, I've discoverd a few facts about the power issues in Kentucky that I feel must be made widely available. First off, Louisville Gas and Electric were sold to the german power megacorporation E.ON several years back. This $10 billion a year company has refused to bury our power lines, citing the expense. I suppose they figured it was worth the cost to cure, but not prevent. The 2003 outage, 2008 and 2009 outages were not, infact, caused by storms. They were caused by deregulation of business and government allowing infasctructure collapse.
I attempted to contact the mayor of Louisville. However, I was unsuccessful. Apparently, the mayor feels no need to be in the office on what he himself said was the worst disaster in our history. His secretary was very abrupt and hung up on me when I inquired about this odd turn of events.
So now, questions remain. Where is the mayor and why cant he be reached until monday? Why were United States power companies sold to a German megacorp who, until then, focused entirely in western Europe? Why has this company refused again and again to fix our power situation, when these things keep happening? And why has the mayor/governor refused to do a thing about it? I do not like these questions, and unfortunately, could not get answers since the mayor feels a weekend off during the biggest disaster in the state is appropriate. This all feels so familiar. And more and more I see people blaming Obama, asking where FEMA is (They wont send help to Louisville because it has not been requested for our county.)
There are so many questions now, and zero answers as of this moment. All thats left is a city, cold and dark.