NewsJanuary 14, 2025

Bollinger County's emergency manager, Kevin Cooper, emphasizes preparation and public awareness for natural disasters like tornadoes and floods. Despite limited resources, the county relies on community collaboration and federal guidance to ensure effective emergency responses.

This was the view on Union Street Friday, Jan. 10, when snow began accumulating in the southeast Missouri.
This was the view on Union Street Friday, Jan. 10, when snow began accumulating in the southeast Missouri.City of Marble Hill
This track of the April 5, 2023 tornado that crossed into Bollinger County, on display at the courthouse in Marble Hill, shows the areas that sustained damage wasn't just limited to Glenallen region.
This track of the April 5, 2023 tornado that crossed into Bollinger County, on display at the courthouse in Marble Hill, shows the areas that sustained damage wasn't just limited to Glenallen region.Daniel Winningham ~ The Banner Press

Kevin Cooper serves as Bollinger County’s emergency manager.

Tornadoes, floods, winter weather. Whatever the potential scenario, he is there to help facilitate the proper response.

Cooper said for the April 2023 severe weather, it's a misnomer that it was one part of the county.

“It wasn’t just Glen Allen,” Cooper said. “I know that’s a misconception on a lot of people’s parts. That tornado affected at least four distinct areas of Bollinger County. The bulk of it, yes, was in Glen Allen but there were other areas that were majorly effected during that tornado, and received damage.

During the flooding, it was once again, predominantly Glen Allen. They, unfortunately, received the brunt (of the flooding) four months after the tornado, but again, other areas were involved.”

The focus when a winter storm impacts the area is on helping those in need.

“It is different,” Cooper said. “With weather, like the tornado, we get some warning ... conditions are right, we’ve been put under a tornado watch. A watch indicates that conditions are favorable, I think is there term, that this type of weather event may occur. When we go under a tornado warning, that changes things. For areas that have a storm safe room, like here (at the Bollinger County Health Center), different policies and procedures go into affect. We kind of ramp things up. We go ahead and get people standing by. The alert comes in that a tornado warning has been issued for the Marble Hill TPZ — tornado protection zone — it’s here. ... For those individuals (in other areas), is the only smart thing, and that’s to shelter in place. Under federal guidance and directive, this facility and very, very few – we go right by the federal standard. Since this is simply a tornado safe room, not a shelter, it doesn’t open two days or 10 hours, or whatever in advance as you’ve probably seen on social media."

The National Weather Service in Paducah is where Cooper gets his most up to date information regarding winter storms or the threat of thunderstorms that could produce damaging words or even possibly a tornado.

For the most part, Cooper said he sticks to the federal guidance.

“That does not mean that emergency management will change from our mandated guidance or directives from the federal or state government just because somebody says or thinks something," Cooper said.

Warming centers are utilized when extreme cold is a possibility. However, that doesn’t mean a bunch of people will utilize them, according to Cooper.

"We may have some advance notice. … We predominately use fire district personnel, and they don’t work for us, they work with us. They are generally the ones that are trained as storm spotters, and so they will deploy out. We will coordinate with what they’re seeing. Fire people, the ambulance, the law enforcement, both local police and sheriff’s department, we’re all back here, not in front of the camera so to speak," Cooper noted.

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"Our priority is getting the information about there," Cooper said. "I don’t have a vehicle. I don’t have a building that I’m in charge of or that the county owns or anything else. We work with other organizations."

Calvin Troxell unofficially serves as the county’s assistant emergency management director. He does it now just because he cares about the community

“It’s a coordinating effort — five fire districts — the sheriff’s office, which is our command center for dispatch and all of that. It is a cooperative effort. We share back and forth. We don’t have enough (resources individually). We cut 25-plus trees the first 36 hours of the ice storm just Woodland. All of the departments have been talking back and forth. ‘If you need something, we’ll send a crew and a saw.’ We had so much road clearing that is was unreal. We’re hoping this next one is gonna just be snow, but unfortunate we live on a border from Perryville to Sikeston that is an ice storm just waiting to happen. Very seldom do we just see snow. It’s always ice or freezing rain, sleet or a combination thereof," he said.

For the recent winter storm, Sedgewickville had a warming center open until 9 p.m. It was a commercial building, and Cooper said organizers were operating it "out of the goodness of their heart."

The Methodist Church also helped. Finding a way to offer assistance to those in need is the main concern.

"That to me is the real truth and sense of community," Cooper said, adding there is always a liability, risk, money expended

In Marble Hill, they were ready at First Baptist Church.

Large territory to oversee

"Bollinger County is not necessarily the largest county area-wise … that would be Dallas or Texas county out in the central part of the state," Cooper said. "You’ve got to remember that from the northern part of the county line to the little-hanging down part with Stoddard (County), that’s 46 miles I think. The elevation in the northern part of the county is several hundred feet difference compared to Arab or Dongola. That will also factor into your weather patterns."

For the Jan. 5-6 winter storm that brought mostly ice to the region, there were portions of the county that had more damage than others, according to Troxell.

“It was the west central (that was hit the worst),” Troxell said. “Down (Highway) DD and the high points. … It wasn’t all in one spot."

"It was also hit very hard in the Sedge area and into Perry County," Cooper said.

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