COUNTY JUDGE’S UPDATE - FIRST 7 MONTHS IN OFFICE
The first 7 months have flown by beginning with the January ice storm disaster and ending with the airport hearing. Both events were precedent-setting events never experienced in the history of our county.
The ice storm disaster began my term with a bang. 95% of the county was without power for at least a week and some residents were without for much longer. Two days after the storm hit the county opened a shelter in town followed by an additional in-town shelter and several out in the county as the need arose. At the peak of the disaster, over 450 people utilized one shelter with hundreds of meals being served daily by the Baptist Men’s Group and the Salvation Army. Medical teams staffed the shelters and in a week the National Guard arrived. The County was then able to begin delivering food and water to the shelters on a regular basis and go door-to-door in the rural areas checking on residents in need. Sheriff Montgomery and his deputies literally had to chainsaw their way to most of the homes.
The citizens of Baxter County owe a debt of gratitude to the Baxter County Road & Bridge Dept., the Sheriff’s Dept., and all the rural fire dept.’s for the outstanding job they did clearing roads to allow access for the power company crews to restore power. They worked day and night putting themselves at risk during the most dangerous time immediately after the storm hit. Residents are also to be commended, as I witnessed over and over neighbor helping neighbor with everyone working together during a very stressful time.
Once power was restored to 99.9% of the residents and 99.9% of the roads had at least one lane opened, the County moved from the response phase to the recovery phase.
Limbs were still falling, hanging limbs were everywhere and roads were narrowed
creating a very dangerous situation due to the amount of debris in the ditches and along the road right-of-ways. After it was determined by FEMA that there was approximately 171,000 cubic yds. of debris (this was later proven to be a very low estimate), the County choose to contract out the debris removal as this was a massive project that the County was unable to handle. DRC Emergency Services was awarded the bid as they were the lowest bidder. To-date 644,095 cubic yds. of debris have been picked up at a cost of $4,355,858.00. (This is a far cry from the original estimate) The County will be reimbursed by FEMA for a large portion of this expense.
This has been a long, arduous and sometimes frustrating process. It has also been a learning experience that the County has grown from and therefore, the County will be better equipped to deal with any future disaster.
Again, I want to extend my deepest appreciation to all those who helped during one of the worst disasters our county has ever experienced.
The first 7 months have flown by beginning with the January ice storm disaster and ending with the airport hearing. Both events were precedent-setting events never experienced in the history of our county.
The ice storm disaster began my term with a bang. 95% of the county was without power for at least a week and some residents were without for much longer. Two days after the storm hit the county opened a shelter in town followed by an additional in-town shelter and several out in the county as the need arose. At the peak of the disaster, over 450 people utilized one shelter with hundreds of meals being served daily by the Baptist Men’s Group and the Salvation Army. Medical teams staffed the shelters and in a week the National Guard arrived. The County was then able to begin delivering food and water to the shelters on a regular basis and go door-to-door in the rural areas checking on residents in need. Sheriff Montgomery and his deputies literally had to chainsaw their way to most of the homes.
The citizens of Baxter County owe a debt of gratitude to the Baxter County Road & Bridge Dept., the Sheriff’s Dept., and all the rural fire dept.’s for the outstanding job they did clearing roads to allow access for the power company crews to restore power. They worked day and night putting themselves at risk during the most dangerous time immediately after the storm hit. Residents are also to be commended, as I witnessed over and over neighbor helping neighbor with everyone working together during a very stressful time.
Once power was restored to 99.9% of the residents and 99.9% of the roads had at least one lane opened, the County moved from the response phase to the recovery phase.
Limbs were still falling, hanging limbs were everywhere and roads were narrowed
creating a very dangerous situation due to the amount of debris in the ditches and along the road right-of-ways. After it was determined by FEMA that there was approximately 171,000 cubic yds. of debris (this was later proven to be a very low estimate), the County choose to contract out the debris removal as this was a massive project that the County was unable to handle. DRC Emergency Services was awarded the bid as they were the lowest bidder. To-date 644,095 cubic yds. of debris have been picked up at a cost of $4,355,858.00. (This is a far cry from the original estimate) The County will be reimbursed by FEMA for a large portion of this expense.
This has been a long, arduous and sometimes frustrating process. It has also been a learning experience that the County has grown from and therefore, the County will be better equipped to deal with any future disaster.
Again, I want to extend my deepest appreciation to all those who helped during one of the worst disasters our county has ever experienced.
Joe Bodenhamer ~ County Judge
Elected 2009 - Present
Phone: 870-425-2755
Office Location: 3rd Floor, Baxter County Courthouse
1 East 7th Street, Mountain Home, AR 72653
Elected 2009 - Present
Phone: 870-425-2755
Office Location: 3rd Floor, Baxter County Courthouse
1 East 7th Street, Mountain Home, AR 72653
Official Web Site Of Baxter County Government
