Did You Know...

Will President Obama leave his 77-degree-heated Oval Office and visit the Kentucky ice storm disaster area? Over/under?

National Guard troops are out there:

Thousands of National Guard troops wielding chain saws cut their way into remote communities yesterday to reach residents stranded by a deadly ice storm, enabling some to get out of their driveways for the first time in nearly a week. The soldiers went door-to-door, handing out chili and beef stew to people cooped up in homes without power as authorities increased relief efforts for what Gov. Steve Beshear called the biggest natural disaster ever to hit the state. Kentucky was hit hardest by an ice storm that stretched from the Ozarks through Appalachia last week. Officials said the storm was a factor in at least 42 deaths, mostly from hypothermia, traffic accidents or carbon monoxide poisoning from improperly installed generators or charcoal grills used indoo

Mississippi power crews are out there:

Hundreds of Mississippi power crews are helping restore electricity after recent ice storms.

According to the Electric Power Associations of Mississippi, 218 workers from the state are assisting the restoration in Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri.

Some crews have been in the storm stricken areas for five days.

More than 250 emergency crew members will be working out of state when additional crews leave Monday morning.

It’s the largest group of workers ever to assist a storm related incident outside Mississippi.

Over a quarter million residents are still without power.

Indiana is sending Humvees:

Indianapolis – Indiana is lending its support to Kentucky after that state was hit hard by last week’s storms.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the Indiana National Guard will deliver 100 humvees to New Albany, Evansville and Camp Atterbury. The vehicles will be picked up by Kentucky National Guard troops.

In addition, a five-person team from Indiana will report to the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort. The team will consist of three members of the IDHS, along with one person each from the National Guard and Indiana Task Force One. The team will provide operations relief to Kentucky personnel.

Central Alabama is helping:

With winter weather wreaking havoc across much of the country, it’s estimated that more than 800,000 homes and businesses are without electricity from Texas to Maine.

The ice is snapping so many power lines, many repair crews are overwhelmed.

As of Thursday there were three confirmed power companies in Alabama that are sending help.

Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, Alabama Power and Pioneer Electric have dispatched crews to various locations farther north.

C.A.E.C. sent nine line workers in three bucket trucks and three pickup trucks to help restore power in Kentucky.

Alabama Power released 300 contract crews for service in Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois.

Pioneer Electric says it’s sending crews from its Greenville and Selma offices to Kentucky where more than half a million homes are in the dark.

The Kentucky Red Cross is sheltering victims.

If you are organizing charitable efforts, please track back or e-mail me so I can let readers know how to help! The blogosphere came together to raise money for tsunami relief and Katrina relief. Time to come together again.

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Commenter Socky:

Remember when Obama claimed 10,000 people died in the Kansas twister and blamed Bush for states not having the resource to respond?

Obama pledged in the 2008 campaign, that “the federal government needs to be a strong, swift, effective partner with state governments in dealing with disasters.”

So, where’s the swift response, President Hopeychange?

Hilldawg attacked Bush for not responding to Katrina saying he just didn’t care: “It is a great injustice that you would deny the resources to your own people, but that shouldn’t surprise us, because many people are invisible to this president.”

Is it fair to say the people in Missouri and Kentucky are invisible to this president?