As the cleanup begins from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, local residents and businesses are becoming involved in a variety of ways.
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As the cleanup begins from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, local residents and businesses are becoming involved in a variety of ways.
The Builders Club at Trenton Middle School and the Trenton Kiwanis Club will be collecting monetary donations at Friday night’s Trenton-Knob Noster varsity football game at C.F. Russell Stadium.
Grundy Electric Cooperative has sent four of its linemen to Mississippi to assist with efforts to restore that area’s electrical power. Keith Vandevender, Danny Westcott and Scott Crawford of Trenton and David Alley of Humphreys left on Monday as part of a group of 121 linemen and 54 trucks from the state’s 27 electric cooperatives. The crews, all volunteers, were headed to the Coast Electric Power Association in Bay St. Louis, MS, and the Singing River Electric Power Association in Lucedale, MS, to help those associations restore power.
According to Rob Land, director of risk management and training at the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, both Mississippi cooperatives were at “ground zero” from the storm, which is reported to have devastated the entire coastline. As of Wednesday, not a single meter was turning at either system. The Missouri crews were spending the week clearing downed trees and other debris so that power lines could be restrung.
Trenton Municipal Utilities Director Chad Davis said there are no plans at this time to send any TMU employees, although he indicated that could change. TMU sent an individual to assist with hurricane cleanup in Florida this past spring and Davis said it is possible that the group through which TMU worked could ask for assistance later.
The local Aquila office has no plans at this time to send any individuals, however, local spokesperson Joyce Eads said the company is doing an employee dollar-for-dollar match of monetary donations being made to help hurricane victims.
Two Trenton men, David Burgess and Kevin King, are headed to New Orleans to assist with the restoration of communication services. The two men are working with Sprint to get the area’s communication grid up and going, in particular working on the backup battery system which had been used but is now not working.
National Guard units from Missouri, including the unit headquartered at Chillicothe, have been mobilized for deployment to assist in the relief efforts from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Soldiers from the 129th Field Artillery Battalion, headquartered at Maryville, is among four units which will send soldiers and airmen to the areas affected by the storm. The 129th Batallion includes B Battery at Chillicothe. Also being sent are soldiers from the 128th FA BN, headquartered in Columbia, the 175th Military Police BN, headquartered at Fulton and airmen form the 139th Airlift Wing, located at St. Joseph. Communication assets from the 131st Fighter Wing, located at St. Joseph, are also be used in the relief effort. The soldiers will assist with security in New Orleans as well as provide transportation and communication help where needed.
Although the 1221st Transportation Unit at Trenton has not yet been activated, some of its members will be headed to the areas affected by the storm on Friday. A spokesman at the local unit said around 12 persons will be headed to the area, although the exact destination is still unknown.