THIS IS REPUBLISHING OF THE STORY ON THE ICE STORM OF 2015

Feb 21,1015:  This time “the sky is falling” was not a joke, or a tale or a fable – it pretty much sums up what happened Friday night – The sky came falling down in the form of ice and lots of it. The Cumberland Plateau was hit hard Friday night with an Ice Storm that virtually paralyzed three counties.  Cumberland, Fentress and parts of Putnam Counties woke Saturday morning to no power and no way to get out.  Ice had caused power lines to snap into, trees fell across power lines and highways and travel was almost impossible.  Many have been stranded at home without food or heat.  It will be days before everyone has their electricity back on according to VEC.  Crews from as far away as Atlanta have come in to assist in getting power restored.  The National Guard with Humvees has arrived to aid in getting to those who need to be rescued.  A local radio station’s tower broke in half leaving thousands without important information coming through their radio. We’ve compiled a few of the pictures that have been posted on Facebook of the devastation throughout the area.  It will be take weeks to even clean up the mess the storm left in its wake.

It was considered the “worst natural disaster in the history of Cumberland County,” according to Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency. Volunteer Energy Cooperative reported 35,000 people without power at the peak of the storm, including all of Fentress County and most of Cumberland County, as well as 700 broken power poles and $9.5 million in damage to their utility system.