Jackson County Sees Widespread Outages, Treacherous Back Roads.

Jackson County is experiencing countywide outages and treacherous conditions on back roads.

Mayor Randy Heady said his biggest concern are the residents without power or back up heat. Heady said he fears the Dodson Branch community could be without power the longest.

Heady said UCEMC is reporting 1,300 residents without power in the county.

“A lot of those homes, in what I call the Gainesboro district,” Heady said. “Are gonna be back on, hopefully soon. They’re getting close, there’s a lot of damage out there but they’re trying to get it fixed. There are crews coming in from out of county.”

The Gainesboro District covers homes in Sugar Creek, New Salem, Wartrace, Flynns Lick and more.

Heady said the county is prepared at this time with enough generators to open more than three shelters if necessary. Heady said he will keep the community updated on social media when he gets an update on power for Dodson Branch.

“There’s some extensive damage in Putnam County,” Heady said. “We’re fed out of Putnam County, that area of the county is. So, there’s extensive damage out there. So, I’m not sure about it yet but we’ll be finding an update soon.”

Heady said anyone without power, should not expect power in the near future. He said by that it could mean anywhere between 24 to 72 hours.

Heady said he gives credit to state and local crews for taking on the weather. He said these efforts have made main road travel possible.

“Our T-DOT crew in this county, are phenomenal,” Heady said. “You may have a hard time getting down your road, and I advise everybody that if you don’t have to get out, you shouldn’t. Because it’s slick around Gainesboro here, except for the main road.”

There are three shelters open in Jackson County. Those include the Jackson County Rescue Squad Building, Dodson Branch Community Center and the West End Fire Department