Scott County commission says last week's storm damaged communication equipment

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County officials are still trying to determine how much communication equipment was damaged by lightning last week.

"We're still operational but some of the lines are limited,"said Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger during the regular County Commission meeting Tuesday. "We did have damage to radio and telephone equipment. It's all in the process of being analyzed and turned in to insurance. They're trying to analyze everything to see if we have any further damage."

The equipment, which is located at the county's Communication Center and at the sheriff's office, was reportedly damaged during the storms Thursday.

"They called over Friday and said they had some damage," said County Clerk Rita Milam said.

Burger said officials do not have a dollar figure for the damage yet.

"It's kind of up in the air. Some of it is AT&T equipment problems," Burger said. He explained they need AT&T to fix all their equipment after which it will be able to determine how much of the county's equipment is damaged.

Burger said the county did have protective devices in place for lightning strikes.

"It burned up the surge protectors, too," he said. "The surge protector was fried and circuit board and the FAX component was also damaged."

Burger said it is possible that some of the damaged equipment may be under warranty.

In other business Tuesday, county officials are scheduled to clean out the old 911 building in Morley on Wednesday.

"The building has seen better days," Burger said. "We're not going to use it for emergency management anymore or 911."

Joel Evans, emergency management director for the county, said the county's emergency management has been paying the building's utility bills.

The plan is to remove "everything that is not bolted down, nailed down or attached," Burger said. "We're going to clean it out."