The Wayne County Outlook …

Posted July 3, 2019 at 8:37 am

Trees were down across roads and power was out for residents around the county Friday night, June 21, as a severe storm moved across the Lake Cumberland area.

Road crews for the county worked throughout the weekend and workers from South Kentucky RECC spent hours restoring power to rural residents.

Wayne County Judge/Executive Mike Anderson and fiscal court members met early Monday morning, June 24 and declared a local state of emergency.

The declaration may provide them with some help with funding as they continue to deal with storm damage. It also allows the county to bypass bid requirements and to hire additional contract labor for storm debris removal.

Anderson reported that there had been no reports of anyone being injured in the storm and the majority of reports they had received involved wind and tree damage. There was some damage to structures.

The county road crew went to work clearing roads as soon as possible on Friday night and continued to work throughout the day Saturday. Anderson added that crews also spent much of the day Sunday clearing the debris.

Initially, the local 911 dispatch center received reports of at least 36 trees down in various sections of the county.

More reports were made later as people got up the next morning and discovered damage to their property.

Anderson said that he had driven through many of the damaged areas in the county and said that the Cumberland Ridge area was probably the one that suffered the heaviest damage.

South Kentucky RECC reported that at approximately 11 p.m. Friday, about 11,500 customers were without power in the Lake Cumberland area. That included more than 3,000 customers in Wayne County.

Many were without power for hours and Anderson stated Monday that there were still a few customers who had not had their power restored that morning.

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A local woman was arrested on drug-related charges following a traffic stop on Bypass 90.

According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Jacqueline N. Bell, of Monticello, was charged with trafficking in a controlled substance first degree (more than or equal to two grams of meth), possession of a controlled substance third degree and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to Sheriff Tim Catron, deputies Derek Dennis and Brett Rose conducted the traffic stop after the vehicle left the area of Murphy’s gas station.

They were assisted in the search of the vehicle by K-9 unit Lyon. Deputies said they located meth, suboxone sublingual film, numerous clear plastic baggies, a glass smoking pipe and $212 in cash.

Bell was lodged in the Wayne County Detention Center.