BWOODBY@CULLMANTIMES.COM

Days after emergency crews responded to storm damage throughout downtown Cullman, agency representatives met to discuss Friday’s disaster response and put the pieces of the event together.

“Assessing the situation was difficult,” Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper said. “We felt like we did the best we could.”

Unlike many weather disasters, Friday’s storm came with little warning to alert emergency action. Cullman Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Kelly Allen said crews had virtually no notice before the storm hit.

“We were under a severe thunderstorm watch from the National Weather Service, but not under a tornado watch,” Allen said. “The warning came one minute before the storm hit the office.”

The warning stated the storm was three miles west of Cullman, heading east at 40 miles an hour.

“The public had very little or no warning at all,” Allen said.

The storm, which brought straight-line winds as powerful as 110 miles per hour, quickly knocked out power lines across towns, including those servicing the EMA office and the police department.

County EMA director Phyllis Little said though her office was equipped with a power generator, the machine’s automatic switch failed and the office was without power during the crucial few minutes immediately following the storm.

“Our dispatch was down for a few minutes,” Culpepper said, adding his office experienced the same trouble with its generator.

Once both agencies had power restored by manually turning on generators, calls about damage flooded each office.

“It wasn’t long after the storm came through we got the city’s E-911 call overload,” Cullman County Sheriff Tyler Roden said.

Initially, both police departments as well as fire rescue departments and other groups, began searching for injured or trapped people in damaged buildings. However, responders said lack of power and an overwhelming number of calls made it difficult for crews to gather “situational awareness,” or to determine the extent of damage.

“Situational awareness can sometimes take hours,” said Dan Isley, regional field coordinator with the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, who facilitated Tuesday’s hot wash.

“When you have an incident happen right over you, it’s hard not to get sucked into that first (emergency) right in front of you,” Culpepper said.

While Cullman EMS searched neighborhoods with apparent structural damage for any injuries, Cullman Fire Rescue tried to establish a command center.

“We tried to set up a second search rescue command but got overwhelmed,” Cullman Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Junior Reinhardt said. “We had to wait until mutual aid came in to help.”

Meanwhile, calls came in about a potential gasoline leak at B&B Petroleum on Highway 31 and about a structure fire only yards away.

“The search rescue was carried out but the gas leak was deemed the most threatening to life safety,” Isley said to summarize comments from several representatives.

Cullman firefighters were dispatched to extinguish the fire while county hazmat teams began cleaning up the gasoline spill, which Reinhardt said leaked onto the ground after a utilities pole toppled on top of a tank, knocking off its valve.

Hazmat firefighters said they had no problems identifying the type of fuel spilled despite finding no markings outside the damaged container. Cullman Building Inspector Rick Fulmer said he intends to meet with the owner of B&B Petroleum to discuss means of properly storing and identifying fuel.

Though hazmat crews attempted to contain the spill, Cullman Fire Chief Mike Hackney called for an emergency evacuation of schools, residences, and even the Cullman County Courthouse, within a half-mile radius of the spill site, due to the potential for gasoline to have leaked into the sewer system. Hackney said the gasoline fumes in the sewer system could cause explosions as they expand into buildings.

City police requested the assistance of the Alabama State Troopers, which responded to Cullman to control traffic. County deputies also took to city streets, directing traffic away from the spill site, working wrecks and blockading roads where power lines and trees were down. Once the evacuation was ordered, officers tried to prevent drivers from entering the controlled area by blocking access on Highway 31. Traffic then weaved in and out of heavily damaged areas along Katherine and Ann streets.

As news of the incident spread, medical, fire and law enforcement teams from other counties in North Alabama dispatched to Cullman and met at the emergency staging site in the Cullman Shopping Center Parking lot, directly across from the gasoline spill. Emergency officials maintained operational control at a site downtown.

Thousands of residents county-wide were without power, telephone and cable service for hours. Cell phone lines were jammed with calls.

Along Alabama Highway 278, the Cullman Water Treatment Plant was without power and began draining water from its 8-million-gallon reserve to send to residents in the city and county systems.

The potential for a water shortage threatened firefighting efforts across town.

“We were going to flush the sewer (to get rid of the gasoline) but we were afraid there wouldn’t be enough water,” Hackney said.

Crews at the gasoline spill site and the nearby fire used foam to battle the blaze and neutralize the gasoline in the sewer system. However, firefighters ran out of foam and had to get more from Decatur to secure the area. City street employees opened manholes around town to allow the gasoline fumes to escape out of the sewer system and into the air.

As the fuel spill became under control, the evacuation was reduced to five blocks, and then two, around the site.

Volunteers with the Cullman Chapter of the American Red Cross maintained a shelter at St. Andrew’s Church for those displaced during the evacuation or whose homes were damaged in the storm. Red Cross Director Kenneth Kilgo said some residents with medical emergencies requiring them to have electricity were taken to hotels to stay until power could be restored to their homes.

As the night progressed, power restoration became one of the highest priorities. The water treatment plant’s supply dwindled to 3 million gallons within hours of the outage. Little said officials had some difficulty finding a power generator capable of running the plant. Little said the 750 kilowatt generator the facility obtained came from contractors outside Birmingham. The generator operated the plant’s clear wells until power was restored at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Cullman Utilities Board Manager Mike Manning said the power outages were mostly caused by fallen trees and snapped power poles.

“At the time of the storm, we were waiting on a second front to come through,” he said. “We wanted to work on the lines but were afraid we would just have to re-do them after the next storm came through. Luckily, that front dissipated and we were able to go ahead and work on the lines.”

While crews worked throughout Friday night and early Saturday morning, several hundred residents were still in the dark Saturday evening.

However, Cullman EMS said no medical emergency calls were made and Little said there was only one minor injury reported throughout the entire storm.

Agency representatives said they were overall pleased with Friday’s response efforts but hope to ensure better disaster response in the future by pre-planning.