Area residents awoke Sunday to discover a heavy coating of ice and no utilities.

A winter storm passing through the area deposited ice on every surface causing trees and limbs to fall onto the also ice-covered electric telephone and other utility lines, resulting in shorts, broken lines and broken utility poles.

Broken and fallen tree limbs are evident in this picture taken along a power line near Vanceburg. Power crews have had problems making repairs to the damaged lines because of inaccessibility to the remote areas. Some rural residences may remain without power for several more days until all the lines can be checked and repaired.

Before Noon, nearly every residence in Lewis and surrounding counties was without those basic services we've grown so accustomed to.

Utility workers scrambled to make repairs as calls were made from the working telephones of those without electricity. It quickly became apparent that workers could not keep up with the rate of damage to the lines.

As freezing rain continued to accumulate, more and more limbs and lines tumbled to the ground.

To complicate matters even more, travel became more dangerous due to slick road surfaces along with trees, limbs and utility lines blocking roadways. Working in areas where the limbs were falling created hazardous working conditions for workers trying to keep roadways open and those trying to restore power.

By late Sunday the accumulating ice was too much for many trees and limbs. The sounds of falling trees and limbs breaking under the extreme weight sounded like random gunfire.

By Monday morning, as workers and utility officials began to assess the extent of the damage, it became apparent that it would be some time before electricity could be restored to thousands of customers.

AEP, the electric supplier for Vanceburg Electric, estimated by late Monday more than 120,000 customers were without electric. That estimate had improved to about 60,000 by Thursday morning.

Fleming Mason Energy summoned crews from co-ops in areas not affected by the storm. Vanceburg Electric called in crews from an electrical contractor in Lexington. Alltel also called in extra help to try to restore services as quickly as possible.

At some points, crews clearing electric line rights-of-way and roadways called off their efforts because of the danger and the futility of clearing a stretch only to have that same stretch covered again by the falling, ice-covered limbs.

Area resident increasingly called on police and fire departments for assistance. 911 service was disrupted in Lewis County and locations where telephone systems are operated by electric were unable to make or received telephone calls.

Emergency two-way radio communications were interrupted Monday morning when a propane-powered generator at the WKKS-FM tower site ran out of fuel.

Getting the large tanks of propane to the remote site required the assistance of a Division of Forestry bulldozer, chainsaws, a group of determined people and some creative thinking in obtaining four tanks of propane, enough to run the generator for 48 hours.

By operating on a gasoline-powered generator at the WKKS studio location on Fairlane Drive and with the propane-powered generator at the tower site, the radio station began a schedule of intermittent operations Sunday evening to conserve propane at the tower site.

Ice was evident early Sunday in all areas around Lewis County. Ice buildup was much heavier in higher elevations and was reported to be up to three inches thick on power lines on the eastern edge of the Lewis County.

Without electricity, residents turned to kerosene heaters to keep warm. However, without electricity, filling stations were unable to pump kerosene or gasoline. Several people traveled several miles over the ice and snow covered roadways to stock up on kerosene for the heaters and gasoline for generators.

Fleming Mason Energy workers were able to restore power for a couple of hours Sunday evening along their main line stretching to Vanceburg allowing people a brief opportunity to line up at the filling stations and grocery stores where the power was on.

By Tuesday some filling stations around Lewis County had rigged up generators and were able to operate on a limited basis. Fleming Mason Energy was again able to restore power along the main line and had begun to expand the area of restored power.

An icy buildup was evident Tuesday on a chain link fence at Lewis County High School. Electric service has since been returned to the school and it is being utilized as a heat shelter for area residents who remain without electricity.

Vanceburg Utility workers discovered that a large metal tower supporting a 138,000 volt line, near where the local utility hooks up with AEP at South Portsmouth, had twisted and would have to be repaired or replaced. Crews ascended on the area and began to cleat a route to the tower located in a particularly remote area. Two large specialized bulldozers were taken to the tower and work was underway Wednesday to begin the repairs.

Superintendent Phil Kennedy said the ice was much thicker at the higher elevations and said workers with the electrical contractor had measured a three-inch thick covering on lines in that area.

Gary Hall, a superintendent with Davis H. Elliott Company, the electrical contractor, said in his 25 years or working on utility systems following storms, he had not seem damage as extensive as he has seen in this area. Hall said the 100-foot tall tower was 15 or 16 feet out of plumb.

Hall said his crews were called here from working in North Carolina and added the crews would be working with Vanceburg Electric crews until power is restored to every Vanceburg Utility customer.

Efforts were hampered about 2:00 p.m. Wednesday when two communications towers at the WPAY tower site collapsed and blocked an access road being utilized to get crews and equipment to the area where workers needed to have access to the damaged electric line.

Area officials realized early Sunday that the winter storm moving across the area would be like no other in recent memory.

By late Sunday, the storm had proven them to be right by continuing to pile on a layer of ice which had begun to bring down large trees and utility lines.

Firefighters responded in force by helping city, county and state road crews to clear roadways. Every available officer of the Vanceburg Police and Lewis County Sheriff's Departments were called to duty. Heat shelters were opened. Residents and businesses scrambled to get back up heat and electric. Utility workers were summoned to every part of the county with increasing urgency.

Officials began to call and meet with other officials to secure assistance with foreseen problems resulting from the build up of ice and the collapse of trees and utility lines.

States of emergency were declared for Vanceburg and Lewis County and calls went out for assistance.

A temporary command center for Emergency Management Services was established at the Vanceburg Fire Department where EMS Director Carl Chaney could oversee and direct efforts of crews across the county dealing with each situation as it arose.

Heat shelters were established in several locations across the county and hundreds of crews, workers and volunteers began to tackle the situation in their fields of expertise.

Cooper said two crews from the Division of Forestry were also assisting to clear roadways blocked by fallen trees and limbs.

Cooper said that with the boil water advisories, and without the ability of many household to boil water without power, 4,400 gallons of drinking water were delivered.

Cooper said the Community Based Basic Services has also set-up a temporary location at the city building and is assisting those who lost food, which was purchased with food stamps.

Cooper also said many relief services are available for those who need help getting trees cleared from roadways or driveways.

An emergency number has been established for those needing assistance from the services based in the city building and for those who need to contact Vanceburg Utilities. That number is 606-796-2784. That number can also be used to find out where bottled water is available in your area.

911 service, after initially being out, has been restored and is now operational.

Meeting in a marathon regular session on Feb. 10, the Lewis County Fiscal Court presented Jim Rummage, Chief District Engineer of the Kentucky Transportation Department, a wish list of roads they recommend for repair as part of the state's Rural Secondary Road Program.

The magistrates authorized County Judge Executive Steve Applegate in conjunction with Road Foreman Dane Howard to prioritize the list and send it to the Transportation Department.

Rummage told the court that the state has recommended the following five roads for improvements:

KY3310/Mt. Zion Ridge Road: asphalt resurfacing, MP3.3 to 4.9, estimate $72,746.

KY1237/Ruggles Road: asphalt resurfacing, MP0 at the junction of KY989 to MP3.2 at KY27, estimate $129,107.

KY8/Trinity Station-Concord Road: resurfacing, MP2.0 to 4.55, estimate $110,578.

KY1149/Town Branch Hill: slip correction, estimate $139,380.

Second District Magistrate Todd Ruckel listed Hazel Road, resurface for 1.8 miles; Fly Branch Road, 1.62 miles, for resurfacing; and Quicks Run Road needs patch and repair, and parts need resurfacing, about 10 miles long.

First District Magistrate Milt Stanfield named Holly, resurface beginning at Hwy. 73 west to the end of the black top; Poplar Flat, Hwy 1347, beginning at KY57 north, 1.5 miles resurface; and Hwy. 1333 Big Cabin Creek, beginning at the mason-Lewis County line, 1.5 miles for resurfacing.

The county judge and road foreman will prioritize these roads and send them to the Transportation Department.