Published: May 13, 2009 08:09 am      

Governor inspects storm damage, promises help

KIRKSVILLE — Gov. Steve Beshear on Tuesday visited homes along the path of destruction left by the EF3-intensity tornado that swept across Madison County on Friday.

He promised the state would assist residents with recovery, even if the state does not qualify for federal disaster assistance.

State and local officials are assessing the amount of damage to determine if the state qualifies for federal assistance, said Carl Richards, director of the county’s emergency management agency.

Richards, along with Madison Judge/Executive Kent Clark, state Sen. Ed Worley, D-Richmond, Rep. Lonnie Napier, D-Richmond, and Rep. Lonnie Napier, R-Lancaster, accompanied Beshear on the tour.

They visited the site near the intersection of Lancaster and Moran Mill roads where two people perished when the mobile home they were in was blown into a pond.

Glenda Charbonnel, 42, and Shawn Michael Yarber, 35, died in the storm, but Madison County Emergency Medical Service personnel who happened to witness the tornado rushed to the scene and were able to prevent Katrina McKee and a child who had been in the home from drowning in the pond.

Beshear listened to survivors tell their stories, including Ronnie Tussey, whose hilltop home near the intersection of Moran Mill and Kirksville roads was demolished by the storm.

Tussey and his wife heard warning sirens about one minute before the tornado smashed into their home.

His wife Margie got to the basement, but Tussey told the governor he managed only to hit the floor by the basement door when the storm struck.

Judge/Executive Kent Clark said the National Weather Service told him the storm did not develop into a tornado until it crossed Nina Ridge near the Madison-Garrard county line.

If the tornado had struck the more populace areas of Richmond or Berea, the loss of life would have been much greater, Clark told the governor.

In the more than 150 rural homes damaged, many families were not home when the storm came through shortly before 5:30 p.m.

The storm ripped off the upper stories of many homes.

“You can see those upper stories were mostly bedrooms,” Clark told the governor. “Lots of people could have been asleep in those bedrooms if the storm had hit after midnight.”

When the storm approached, Jennifer Baker said she was in the kitchen of her mother’s Adams Place home preparing to take her son to the carnival at nearby Kirksville Elementary School, where he is a fifth grader.

“We had planned to be there at 5:30 p.m. when the carnival started,” she said. “I took a peek outside, saw how hard it was raining and told my son we’d have to wait.”

Then she heard windows breaking and saw plumes of drywall dust blow up from other homes in the subdivision.

“My son and I ran to the basement,” she said. “We were worried about my mother and brother who were in another section of the house, but everyone in the house was OK.”

A vacant house across the street belonging to Dr. Michael Bakarich lost most of its upper story.

Bakarich, with his wife and six children, moved to Georgia in July.

“I got a call Friday evening from a friend here in Richmond, who asked if I was sitting down,” Bakarich said. “When I asked why, he said, ‘Your house is gone.’”

Bakarich and his wife came back to Richmond on Monday to inspect the damage.

As workers repaired neighboring houses, Bakarich said he was undecided about what to do until he heard from his Pennsylvania-based insurance company.

Beshear told him employees of the state department of insurance would be visiting the county to help with insurance issues.

“The insurance commissioner has already been here this morning,” Bakarich told the governor. “When I told her we hadn’t heard from the insurance company, she said, ‘After I call them, I think you’ll hear from them.’”

On the department’s Web site — insurance.ky.gov/kentucky — claimants are advised to allow three days for a response after notifying an insurer. After three days have passed, claimants should call 1-800-595-6053.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.