EUREKA EMERGENCY RESPONSE UPDATE
CORRECTION: The Greenwood County Emergency Manager indicated that 100-200 volunteers are still needed but bottled water is not needed at this time. Volunteers should be able to handle the extreme heat. They also need to come equipped with gloves, eye protection, work boots and long pants.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has employees on site working with residents to obtain critical documentation (birth and marriage certificates) and the fees are being waived. CORRECTION: The employees plan on being there through Saturday.
The State Emergency Operations Center continues to coordinate recovery operations in Eureka. Door-to-door welfare checks are being conducted in the areas still without power.
There will be a Town Hall meeting held Friday, June 29 at 7 p.m. at the Matt Samuels Building.
The Greenwood County Emergency Manager indicated that they no longer are in need of bottled water or volunteers to help with debris clean up. If that should change, we will put out a request for those items.
The Kansas Corporation Commission is reporting 1,400 customers still without power and they are actively working to restore power to all customers. Westar reports that in storms, sometimes the hardware that houses the electric meter and the wires that feed electricity into a home or business can become detached. This is the square metal box and connecting pole on the side of the house or building. If the hardware is damaged, Westar cannot reconnect the service line between the house and the power grid because it’s not safe. The homeowner is responsible for hiring an electrician to make these repairs before power can be restored to the residence.
The American Red Cross shelter remains open at the Methodist Church, 521 N. Main Street, and housed seven residents overnight. The shelter is serving as a cooling station for residents and volunteers during the day. The American Red Cross is providing two mobile feeding routes along with hydration.
Century Link is providing the food for feeding stations located at 100 Jefferson.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has employees on site working with residents to obtain critical documentation (birth and marriage certificates) and the fees are being waived.
The Kansas Department of Transportation has deployed the following assets to Eureka:
– Five message boards
– 10 dump trucks
– 30 barricades
– Skid Steer
– Wheel loader
– Excavator
– Four flag personnel to assist with directing traffic
The Kansas Department of Revenue put out information that residents affected by the tornado can get free replacement car titles, registration receipts, and drivers licenses if those documents were lost or damaged in the storm. Applications for replacement titles and replacement registration receipts can be made at the Greenwood County Treasurer’s office, 311 N. Main Street Suite 4, Eureka.
Verizon Wireless has deployed two COLTs (Cell On Light Trucks) and operators and the COLTs will be operational sometime during the day on Thursday, June 28.
The following assets deployed by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management remain on site:
– GIS Response Vehicle
– Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Support Team
– Incident Management Team
– KDEM Response Liaison and Regional Coordinator to support incident command and county emergency management
– Communications on Wheels (will be in place until Monday, July 2)
– Resource Accountability Tracking Team
– Public Assistance Support for damage assessment and debris management
– Telecommunications Emergency Response Team
Recovery operations continue in Eureka during the day and will cease from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. to ensure the safety of those working in the area. Security will remain on-site overnight.
The SEOC will scale back activation overnight to a staff duty officer and will resume full activation at 7 a.m.