OPINION: OPEN DOOR WEDNESDAY A GREAT IDEA FOR SCHOOLS
THE
TUESDAY
CALENDAR, PAGE 6:
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
SPORTS, PAGE 10
Check out upcoming events in the Lake Martin area
September 12, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 181 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
Hendrix is Outlook Athlete of the Week
IRMA STORMS THROUGH Weakened Irma Area shelters soaks county, causes damage
keep evacuees and locals safe
By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
The remnants of Hurricane Irma rolled into central Alabama Monday after leaving a trail of destruction in the Caribbean and Florida. While the damage experienced here in the Lake Martin Community didn’t compare to what was being seen in the Sunshine State, local officials worked nonstop dealing with issues caused by the high winds and heavy rain. Irma came ashore in the Florida Keys and southern Florida over the weekend as a Category Four storm, bringing with it much of the same devastation seen throughout the Caribbean over the previous week. Storm surges See STORM • Page 3
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Members of the New Site Volunteer Fire Department cut up a large tree that fell on Highway 22 near Gemany’s Ferry Road and move the debris. County highway crews had started the removal and had one lane cleared when these volunteers came to work the other side.
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
A local man received non-life-threatening injuries when the truck he was driving struck a tree that fell in front of him as he drove along Highway 22 between Daviston and New Site Monday. The man was alert and talking with firstresponders and on the phone with his family at the scene. Below: Alexander City officials were called to this home on Jefferson Street Monday where trees came down and collected some power lines with it. Bottom: County District 3 crews work to reopen a portion of Highway 22 Monday after a tree fell across the highway.
Officials scramble to deal with Irma’s wrath STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
Irma’s travel across the Lake Martin area brought with it heavy rain, high winds and its fair share of issues. With the hard work of city, county and state workers, first responders and residents heeding the warnings, the area was coping pretty well with the issues and damage caused by a storm that left a path of destruction in the Caribbean and the state of Florida. In events like this, the information and incidents flood in and here are some of the storm stories The Outlook staff tracked Monday. HARDEST HIT: Two of the areas that seemed to be the hardest hit were along the Highway 22 corridor between See LOCAL • Page 3
Dadeville Kiwanis welcomes Tankersley from Wetumpka Impact Crater Commission By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Marilee Tankersley with the Wetumpka Impact Crater Commission was the special guest at Thursday’s meeting of the Dadeville Kiwanis Club, giving a special presentation on the 85 million year old site just east of Wetumpka. Impacting Alabama with a force 175,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, the meteor left a crater approximately five miles wide at the base of the
Today’s
Weather
67 56 High
Low
rim. During her talk, Tankersley described what it might have been like when the extraterrestrial rock made contact with the Earth. “At this time, Tallapoosa County would have been the beach. Wetumpka was under a shallow sea and Eclectic might have been on some barrier islands,” she said. “The meteor hit in the ocean. As it came through the atmosphere, the speed it would have been traveling at would have See KIWANIS • Page 9
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
490.31
Reported on 09/11/17 @ 10 a.m.
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Dadeville resident Lucille Peavy was the first in the shelter at the Tallapoosa County Courthouse. By MITCH SNEED and CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writers
As the shelter opened in Dadeville Monday afternoon, Lucille Peavy was there as she always is. Peavy almost never misses a shelter opening. “I’d rather be safe than sorry,” the Dadeville resident said from the basement of the Tallapoosa County Courthouse as she took refuge from Irma. “I am here every time.” Peavy does not know how long she will stay in the shelter. “I will stay ‘til it’s over with,” Peavy said. “I have stayed to three o’clock in the morning one time.” Peavy likes to take the precautionary step of going to the shelter because she lives in a mobile home. “I don’t stay in no trailer when there is a storm,” she said. See SHELTER • Page 3
TallaCoosa Aid to People providing financial help to locals in need EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a series of profiles on the 28 agencies that receive funding through the Lake Martin Area United Way. Currently, the Lake Martin Area United Way is holding their 2018 fundraising campaign, “Team United.” To learn how to help, contact the United Way at (256)329-3600 or at www. unitedwaylakemartin.org. By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Donald Campbell / The Outlook
Marilee Tankersley with the Wetumpka Impact Crater Commission talks to the Dadeville Kiwanis Club about the 85 million year old meteor crater in Elmore County.
We Care About You
For residents of Tallapoosa and Coosa counties that may be having trouble paying their rent or bills, there is an organization able to help them with their financial difficulties. TallaCoosa Aid to People assists See AID • Page 9
FREE CONSULTATIONS
and Your Loved Ones!
•Home-like Environment • Specialized Dementia Care Unit •Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy Services “It’s not the end ... It’s a new beginning”
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443 6
54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
8
laceyshowell@gmail.com 5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
256-329-1313
A DAMS HEALTH & REHAB 1555 HILLABEE STREET • (256) 329-0847
217 Madison Street, Alexander City, AL “We are a Debt Relief Agency. We help people file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 under the Bankruptcy Code. Alabama State Bar requires the following in every attorney advertisement, “ No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.”