Hurricane Ike puts county highway crew to work

Hurricane Ike's pass through West Tennessee on Sunday is expected to keep the Dyer County Highway Department busy for another day or two.

Dyer County Road Superintendent Jeff Jones said strong winds blew trees and limbs onto roads throughout the county. Five highway department employees worked an average of seven hours Sunday moving debris off of county roads.

On Monday, highway department employees traversed the county, removing the debris that had been cleared the day before. Jones said crews will need another day and a half or two days to finish the job.

In his report to the Dyer County Commission's Transportation Committee on Monday, Jones attempted to describe the areas most damaged by the storm. He told them trees were reported all around Newbern, Bonicord, Finley, Bogota and on Sudberry Road, Lakewood Drive, Harris Road, McCullough's Chapel Road, Lennie Clark Road, Parker Road, Viar Road and, well, at that point, he gave up. "Oh heck, everywhere caught it pretty well," he said.