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Sumner County emergency management briefs commissioners on storm response; agencies cite heavy call volumes and continuing outages
Summary
EMA director Ken Weidner reported on county response to the January ice storm, noting thousands of calls and dispatches, evacuations at assisted-living facilities, generator/fuel preparations and ongoing coordination with mayors for debris removal and individual assistance registration.
Sumner County Emergency Management Director Ken Weidner gave commissioners a detailed report on the county’s response to the late-January ice storm, describing high call volumes, evacuation activity at assisted-living facilities and continuing utility outages.
Weidner said county planning began as early as Jan. 11 as forecasts shifted, and coordination took place across law enforcement, fire, EMS, highway crews, utilities and municipal leaders. He reported that the ECC dispatched 5,875 calls and logged 6,376 phone calls from Jan. 24–30, described multiple structure fires and said volunteer and municipal departments performed under adverse conditions.
At the peak, Weidner said about 34,000 county customers were without power; he reported 1,104 customers still without service as of 03:30 the morning cited. He described challenges including damaged wiring at some assisted-living facilities, limited generator connectivity, two-way communications strain and road access problems caused by downed trees.
Weidner encouraged residents to register via the state assistance portal to request debris-removal help; he explained that FEMA individual assistance is available only to uninsured or underinsured property owners and that the county is pursuing public-assistance reimbursements for emergency protective measures and public safety response. He said the county will compile preliminary damage assessments to support public-assistance requests.
Commissioners asked for specifics on whether insurance status affects eligibility and how highway crews will prioritize tree removal; Weidner said the county will follow up and that a meeting with municipal mayors about debris removal was scheduled for the next day.
What happens next: EMA will continue to compile damage assessments, work with municipalities to coordinate debris removal and provide the commission an after-action report with needs and recommended follow-up.
