SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — Saturday marks one year since an EF-4 tornado demolished the headquarters of South Kentucky RECC in Somerset, knocking out service to about a third of its membership.
Eric Chumbley and Morghan Blevins, who work at the co-op, reflected on the night of May 16, 2025.
"It was just devastation," Chumbley said.
For Blevins, it was just like a "punch to the gut."
Jeff Baker, a dispatcher, rode out the tornado on site. His truck and the South Kentucky RECC headquarters were destroyed, but Baker was unharmed.
"Jeff was unfazed and, you know, no injuries and that was the important part for us," Chumbley said.
Blevins helped coordinate logistics for RECC as it shifted into recovery mode.
"It was okay, what are we going to do? Get everybody back on and make sure everybody's safe and (ask) what are our next steps?" Blevins said.
That meant restoring outages across the service area.
"Fortunately our crews know the area, they know the lines, so we used old paper maps," Blevins said.
Today, a full rebuild continues. Blevins and Chumbley showed LEX 18 spots for new monitors that will track service locations as the co-op regroups from $23 million in damage at headquarters overall.
"Losing an office is tough but we didn't lose anybody and that was the important thing," Chumbley said.
When the rebuild is complete, the building will be 40,000 square feet. The co-op is currently ahead of schedule and hopes to be back up and running in the new building by the end of the year.
