By Emory Williamson
Tree limbs litter the roadway and a fallen power line sprawls on a blue Volkswagen while Matt Johnson flails his arms backs and forth directing traffic at the intersection of Edenside and Baxter.
“There’s no way out,” said Johnson, as a gust of wind blows. A burly middle-aged man with a sleeveless t-shirt crosses the street carrying a bent Eastern Parkway sign in his arms. “When stuff like this happens people just become idiots and they have no sense of direction and it’s like a panic for them.”
Greg and Barbara Messina were driving to the 2008 Festa Italiana at St. James Catholic Church off of Bardstown Road when Johnson waved them through the intersection. However, the brother and sister, third-generation Italians,, were caught, as was the rest of Louisville, in 70 to 80 mph winds on Sunday as they tried to reach the Italian festival.
Those winds tore through much of Louisville, leaving many without power and forcing several detours around the city.
“We didn’t think (the festival) would be open,” said Greg of St. Matthews, It just seems too awkward tacking this “about their drive to the festival” after the attribution. “But I’m pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to see it this year.”
At a press conference Monday, Gov. Steve Beshear and Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson said the storm caused significant damage to nearly half the state. Beshear said more than 550,000 people were without power at one point on Sunday, including more than 300,000 in the Louisville metro area.
“We cannot undo some of the tragic circumstances and consequence of today’s and yesterday’s storms,” said Beshear at the Middletown Fire Station. “But we can quickly and effectively lend the proper assistance to help our fellow Kentuckian’s during this incredibly challenging time.”
According to Abramson, nearly 3,000 power lines were down in Louisville and he urged citizen’s to take caution when traveling.
Meanwhile, Bernie Carducci, president of the Louisville Italian-American Association, as well as the director of the Festa Italiana, said he was disappointed in the weather, but was grateful for the good weather the previous two days.You have “diasappointed” twice in two graphs. Use a different word in this graph to avoid repeating.
“It was a huge success,” said Carducci. “We’re a little disappointed with what happened today, but thank God nobody was hurt.”
As winds continue to roar in the background, Carducci said that additional publicity as well as general word of mouth were significant factors in the record attendance at the annual festival. However, the windstorm cancelled the festival at 1 p.m. Sunday
“We thought we would be OK with each gust of wind, but we had a big tent get lifted up [from the storm] and we said we got to go,” Carducci said. “Someone is telling us ‘Man let’s get out of here.’”
Tony Woods, a manager at Tony Boombozz, one of the several local vendors at the event, said it’s important to participate in the festival, but he seemed more worried about the storm, which cut power from his restaurant.
“It reminded me of the movie Jurassic Park,” said Woods who said he was forced to take nearly 20 detours in the drive from his home in Pleasure Ridge Park. “I was dodging trees and wrecks – it’s a total nightmare out there.”
Although disappointed with the final day, Carducci said the atmosphere of the festival – which included meatball putting, spaghetti-eating contests, pizza tossing, dancing, music, and of course food – is something worth experiencing.
“I tell people it’s like coming to my house for a party or a big family dinner,” he said. “It’s like an Italian village or being in Little Italy.”
But perhaps minus the storm.
