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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 13, 2007 No. 07-192 KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD PROVIDING SECURITY AND DEBRIS CLEARANCE, DELIVERING
COTS AND GENERATORS TO ICED-UP COMMUNITIES; POWER REMAINS OUT TO 106,000 Units of the Kansas National Guard have been busy in the wake of the ice storm that struck the state earlier this week. Power remains out to more than 106,000 customers in Kansas (Westar has 64,000; Kansas Rural Electric Cooperatives has 41,000; KCP&L has 370 and BPU has 600) and may not be restored for a few more days in some areas. As a result counties have asked the state for help and the Kansas National Guard has been deployed to provide security in communities, clear debris from roadways, deliver numerous generators to support critical emergency needs for communities, transport cots to shelters and open armories for shelter. “Our primary state mission is to protect the lives and property of Kansans,” said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general and director of Kansas Division of Emergency Management. “These generators will help provide essential services to communities without power until repair crews can permanently restore electricity. We will continue to clear debris from roadways, provide security, transport cots to shelters and open armories for additional shelters as long as needed.” Security/Debris Clearance Cherokee County requested the Kansas National Guard provide security support to the local law enforcement. The 891st Engineering Battalion, headquartered in Iola, sent Guardsmen and vehicles to the county today to make sure local authorities had additional help. The 891st is also conducting health and welfare checks in the Baxter Springs area in Cherokee County. To ensure power crews and emergency responders can travel through communities, several debris clearing missions are underway. The 891st is currently assessing the needs for clearing debris from roadways in Cherokee County. The battalion has been working for two days in Labette County to clear debris from highways. The 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka is clearing debris from the roadways in Holton. Generators/Cots The Kansas Guard began delivering generators for critical infrastructure needs in communities including hospitals, shelters and water systems. The 891st Engineering Battalion provided a 5 kW generator to the town of Scammon in Cherokee County and 60 cots to the Central School shelter in Columbus, also in Cherokee County. The 190th ARW delivered one of its own 100 kW generators to the Fulton Family Health Clinic in Holton which is serving as a shelter. The wing delivered 50 cots to shelters in the Holton community and also supplied a heat cart and 10 four-foot light sections to Abilene for shelter. The 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry transported Salvation Army 100 cots from Kansas City, Mo., to the Westmoreland Fire Department in Pottawatomie County. The 2nd Battalion, 130th Field Artillery provided a 10 Kw generator to a shelter in Morrill in Brown County. The 169th Corps Support Sustainment Battalion supplied cots and blankets for a shelter and a 100 kW generator to the Onaga Community Hospital in Pottawatomie County. FEMA has sent 30 generators to Kansas to supplement resources owned by the state. The generators have been staged at the 190th Air Refueling Wing in Topeka and are being delivered to communities in need when requested. The 137th Transportation Company out of Olathe and Topeka, transported
FEMA generators to a shelter in Turon at 501 E. Price, a shelter in Arlington
at 116 E. Main Street, a water supply at a mobile home park in Coldwater
at 408 N. Central, a water supply for a mobile home park in Manhattan
at 6215 Tuttle Creek Blvd, a relief center (shelter) in Oskaloosa at Living
Wellness Church, 13960 K92 Hwy, and to a city water supply in Hiawatha
and a water treatment system in Muscotah. In addition, a FEMA generator
will be taken to Ellsworth County to the Rural Water District at Post
Rock, and a FEMA generator will be transported to Ottawa County’s
Rural Water District # 2 water plant. The 169th Corps Support Sustainment
Battalion provided command and control for the delivery of the FEMA generators. The 184th Intelligence Wing in Wichita supplied generators to several locations including two nursing homes without power in Seneca in Nemaha County: Crestview Manor Nursing Home and one to Life Care Center of Seneca. These two generators were later transported to an Assisted Living Center at 913 Dakota in Sabetha, and to the Goff Community Center in Goff, Kan. The 184th transported two generators in southeast Kansas to reestablish power to sewer and water treatment systems. One generator was set up in Chetopa to restore power to the sewer lift station. Another generator was set up in Baxter Springs in Cherokee County at the Rural Water District # 3 to restore power to the water treatment plant. -30- |
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