STANFORD, Ky. (LEX 18) — Keeping up with StormTracker coverage on LEX 18 is a great way to monitor winter weather moving through the Commonwealth. But where do you go when the power goes out and the television no longer works?
In Lincoln County, Lee Sinkhorn made sure to keep people informed over the radio waves.
“Sometimes when people lose power, they don’t necessarily have a battery powered TV. They do most likely have a battery powered radio.”
Sinkhorn normally takes calls as an on-air personality at WPBK-FM for his show The General Store.
The past two days, however, the station became his home – literally. Sinkhorn spent the night at the station so he could give updates on the winter weather and outdoor conditions.
“It was, stay the night here, or not make it in,” Sinkhorn said of his situation. “I’m glad I did, my road was actually the only road in Lincoln County that got shut down.”
Being at the station to provide updates was important to Sinkhorn, who remembers how much it meant to the community back in 2009.
“Of course we always harken back to the ice storm of 2009,” he said. “The team here did such a great job in 2009 of keeping everyone informed.”
This time around, Sinkhorn’s broadcast included conversations with local officials.
“Even the mayor was out here scraping snow in a plow truck around downtown,” said Sinkhorn.
From his caller’s info and his own personal news gathering, Sinkhorn believes Lincoln County got less ice than he anticipated.
“We dodged a major bullet here in Lincoln County,” Sinkhorn said. “We were expecting more ice than we got. Seemed like it shifted a little more north and we didn’t have to deal with that. Seemed like we were really close to getting that.”
“Last night the ice was really starting to pile up on the trees and power lines and then I walked outside again about 11, looked around, it was starting to melt off. We got really close and really lucky.”
With the snow letting up, Lee wrapped up his station stay around noon.
“It's been nice. It’s been fun, it’s been something different. A challenge,” he said.
You can listen to Sinkhorn and WPBK on their website as well.
