[Stardust]

Some 4,600 Kentucky National Guard troops are part of a record-setting effort to dig out from a paralyzing winter storm that continues to leave hundreds of thousands Kentuckians in the dark and is being blamed on a growing number of deaths.

"We're in for a long haul here," said Gov. Steve Beshear at a Saturday night press conference at the Boone Guard Center in Frankfort. Kentucky "is in the middle of the biggest natural disaster this state has ever experienced in modern history."

Beshear said state officials have confirmed seven deaths as storm related. But, he said, a total of 21 deaths are under investigation for being caused by the fierce weather conditions.

Two nursing homes and six shelters in Western Kentucky, the hardest hit area of the state, have no power.

The Guard effort is the call-up in state history and some units will be conducting house-to-house wellness checks in the hardest hit areas of the state.

As of 7 p.m. Saturday, 2,459 additional guard members had reported to duty. This activation exceeds troop levels for the 1997 flood (1,600 troops) and Kentucky's support of recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (approximately 2,000).The activation involves virtually the entire National Guard in Kentucky and select units of the Air National Guard.

As of last night, Beshear said, 91 counties and 69 cities have declared emergencies, meaning they are using local and state resources to try to cope with storm damage.

He also said 437,000 people still are without power — down from 700,000 a few days ago and 93 water systems in the state have problems. Of those, 64 are down completely because of lack of power. Those water woes are impacting some 233,000 Kentuckians, he said.

By mid-afternoon Saturday, 142 Guard troops in Western Kentucky were teaming up with emergency management agencies, fire departments, rescue squads, law enforcement agencies and volunteers to conduct wellness checks of homes. National Guard spokesperson Phil Miller said that the troops will start going door to door in counties without power and communication first and that first responders and emergency management officials will help decide where the checks should be conducted.

At 4 p.m., Miller said he didn't yet know where in Central and Eastern Kentucky troops would go door to door.

In conducting the door-to-door wellness checks, troops have been instructed to attach green tape on the mail boxes or other locations visible from the road indicating that residents have sufficient food, power, water or communications. Red tape will be used to indicate homes needing help.

Houses marked with red tape will be reported to local emergency operations centers and will be placed on a list to be resurveyed for on-going support based on county capabilities.

The Guard units are also assisting in the restoration of electric power to water plants, communications facilities and homes. Troops are clearing routes for emergency response vehicles as well as helping utility crews gain access to damaged power transmission lines.

The Guard also is helping set up supply distribution centers.

Weather permitting, National Guard helicopters will continue to conduct flights for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet over roads that are impassable. Two helicopters have been assigned to provide support to utility companies to identify damaged power transmission lines.

The governor Saturday visited people in shelters in Madisonville and his hometown of Dawson Springs.

Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo made stops in Daviess, Grayson and Hancock counties, while first lady Jane Beshear went to Webster and Union counties. On Sunday, the governor and his wife plan to visit Meade, Hardin and Marion counties.

Beshear said he is finding the spirits of people good.

"In spite of this dire situation and despite the biggest disaster Kentucky has ever faced, our people are handling this in an amazingly most positive way," he said.

http://www.kentucky.com/787/story/678825.html