Oak Ridge Today

About 1,600 lost power in Sunday storms

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About 1,600 customers lost power during the two major bands of storms that ripped through Oak Ridge at around 8 p.m. and midnight Sunday night, Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs said.

The outages were concentrated around 15 distinct locations, and the east end of town was hit the hardest, Suggs said. The Oak Ridge Electric Department started working on repairs as soon as it could bring in people to help, and crews have been working continuously to restore power.

Suggs said most everyone had power restored by noon Monday. Others had had power restored earlier, some at midnight, more at 3 a.m., then still more by 4 a.m. The majority were back on by 7 a.m. Monday, and crews started “whittling away” at those who were left. [Read more…]

WYSH: Storm damage follow-up; EF0 tornado confirmed in Kingston

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Mike Marsh Home Storm Damage

One of several pictures showing the storm damage Tuesday to the home of Mike and Wanda Marsh on Timbercrest Drive in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy Mike Marsh)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

The National Weather Service has confirmed the powerful storms that rolled through the area on Tuesday included an embedded tornado in Kingston.

Officials with the NWS office in Morristown assessed the damage and said an EF-0 tornado touched down along 3rd Street in Kingston. The winds of an EF-0 tornado are around 65-85 miles per hour.

The NWS said the widespread damage throughout East Tennessee was almost entirely from straight-line winds and down-bursts. Kingston is the only site suspected of sustaining tornado damage.

The Weather Service says straight-line winds estimated at 80 mph packed a destructive punch in Clinton, which appeared to bear the brunt of the damage from Tuesday’s severe weather. [Read more…]

More than $11K in damage, stolen currencies reported at golf course

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Oak Ridge Police Department Logo

Centennial Golf Course reported that unknown suspects caused more than $11,000 worth of property damage and stole $5,381 in various currencies from the business sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning, authorities said.

The golf course is on Centennial Boulevard off Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge.

The Oak Ridge Police Department responded at 7:30 a.m. Monday, April 14, Officer Chris Bayless said in a report. The incident was reported to have occurred between 9:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13, and 7:30 a.m. Monday, April 14. [Read more…]

Federal judge orders Y-12 protesters jailed until September sentencing

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Y-12 Plowshares Protesters

Pictured above are the three anti-nuclear weapons protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex and vandalized a uranium storage building on July 28. From left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed.

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and vandalized a uranium storage building must stay in jail until they are sentenced Sept. 23, a federal judge said Friday.

The three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, 57; Megan Rice, 83; and Michael Walli, 64—had sought to be released until their sentencing hearings this fall. They each face up to 30 years in prison.

But U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar denied that request in a four-page order filed late Friday afternoon. [Read more…]

ORNL analysis predicts extreme weather losses could double by 2050

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By Katie Elyce Freeman

U.S. economic losses from extreme weather could at least double by 2050, according to an Oak Ridge National Laboratory analysis published this month in the online edition of the journal Global Environmental Change.

“A side effect of America’s growth has been the tendency to put more people, infrastructure and assets in harm’s way, and when a storm comes through, that increased exposure drives up economic losses,” said author Benjamin Preston, deputy director of ORNL’s Climate Change Science Institute, who studied historical data from more than 3,000 U.S. counties and used predictive modeling in the assessment. Preston works in impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability science, a field devoted to analyzing the effects of climate change on people, governments and industries. [Read more…]

Motel 6 fire in Clinton causes estimated $550,000 in damages

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Clinton Motel 6 Fire

A fire at the Motel 6 in Clinton on Thursday afternoon caused an estimated $550,000 in damages, authorities said. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A Thursday afternoon fire at the Motel 6 in Clinton that apparently spread from a mulch bed outside the building to the roof and attic damaged at least 20 rooms and caused an estimated $550,000 damage, authorities said.

The two-story hotel is off state Highway 61 near Interstate 75. The fire was reported at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. No one was injured.

The flames went up the side of the building and, driven by high winds, made it to the attic, where the fire burned through the roof, WYSH Radio in Clinton reported. Officials said at least 20 rooms were damaged by fire, and a large part of the rest of the building received smoke and water damage. [Read more…]

Damage from two Clinton fires estimated at $300,000

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Information from WYSH Radio

Following up on last week’s fires at a pair of industries in Clinton, we now have damage estimates from Rexnord and Eagle Bend Manufacturing.

A Thursday night fire at Rexnord caused approximately $105,000 worth of damage. That blaze was sparked by an equipment malfunction.

[Read more…]