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Logger bitten by snake

By Lisa Tindell

news editor

Published:

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 9:22 AM CDT

One rattlesnake bite can lead to a serious situation, but a Brewton area man is living through the ordeal of having been bitten eight times.

Johnny Lavon Odom’s family is thankful for his life. Odom’s wife, Nancy, said he has spent more than three weeks in intensive care as a result of the incident, which took place in the Little River community in western Escambia County.

“He has been in ICU for 24 days,” Nancy said. “The doctors are saying we are just taking it a day at a time right now.”

Nancy said Odom is now able to sit up for a period of time but will remain in ICU until a ventilator is no longer needed.

“He is still on the ventilator some,” Nancy said. “The doctors are trying to build up his lungs so they take him off the ventilator for a little at a time. He will have to be off the ventilator before they can move him to a room on the floor.”

Nancy said the medical bills are continuing to mount with no planned release from the hospital in the near future.

“I’m not sure what the bill is right now,” Nancy said. “A couple of weeks ago one of the hospital staff members told me it was already near six figures.”

The log truck driver does not have any medical insurance, Nancy said.

“I don’t know exactly what we will do about that,” Nancy said. “We’ll just have to see what we can do.”

A rattlesnake bite can be debilitating or even deadly. Jackie Word, director of Turtle Point Science Center in Flomaton, said the age of the snake could have a great bearing on the amount of venom injected into a victim.

“Younger snakes have less control on the amount of venom they inject into their victim,” Word said. “They are more reckless and careless with their venom. Older snakes, on the other hand, have more control over their venom.”

Although Odom was reportedly bitten eight times, Word said chances are that venom wasn’t injected on every bite.

“Typically, it’s my belief that a snake’s venom supply is exhausted after two or possibly three bites,” Word said. “Of course, in a defense situation, typically snakes inject venom in smaller doses in repeated strikes.”

Nancy said she is not sure just what happened to her husband in the woods of the Little River community — and he does not remember.

“I’m not clear on exactly what happened out there,” Nancy said. “He’s very lucky though. He seems to be getting better. Right now, he’s just a little bored sitting in ICU.”

Physical therapists are working with Odom on a regular basis, Nancy said. His physicians have not determined a possible date for discharge, she said.

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Bear sighting no surprise to wildlife biologist

By Lisa Rogers
Times Staff Writer

Published: Friday, May 15, 2009 at 8:44 p.m. 
Last Modified: Friday, May 15, 2009 at 9:03 p.m.

A wildlife expert said he believes black bears are in Northeast Alabama to stay.
There were about 50 calls of sightings of black bears in Northeast Alabama last year, said Tracy Nelson, wildlife biologist with the Alabama Department of Conversation and Natural Resources.
That is up significantly from about four years ago when Nelson first started keeping track of bear activity.
An Attalla street department employee saw a black bear early Thursday in a neighborhood near First Street and watched the bear come from between two houses and cross Preston Avenue, go through a couple of grassy alleys and run into some nearby woods.
A Gadsden family spotted bear tracks behind their home Friday evening.
Rhonda Simmons said there were three pairs of tracks on her property between Charles Street and Perry Street.
“I just can’t believe it,” she said. “It just blows my mind. I don’t think it’s the same one they spotted in Attalla. I don’t see it traveling that far. It makes me wonder if (there are) more in this area.”
Nelson, a conservation enforcement officer and wildlife biologist, said he first started to keep track of reports after a female bear den was discovered in Cherokee County.
The bear had three cubs, he said.
He said those cubs, now adult bears, have probably populated.
“They have a really big home range,” he said. “They can travel several square miles in a given time. Those cubs have dispersed and established their own ranges.”
He said the bear seen in Attalla could be one of those.
There was a report from the Gadsden area last year and there have been several reports from the Tabor Road area, Nelson said.
When Nelson first started tracking the bear sightings, he believes most of the bears were transient – moving through the area from Georgia and Tennessee.
Most of those sightings were in spring.
“But the nature of the calls have changed,” he said.
“People are encountering them in spring and summer and that would lead me to believe they’re here to stay,” he said. “A few are finding new territories to make a new home.”
Nelson said it is important for people to understand that bears rarely come in contact with people and rarely are seen in populated areas.
The black bears of this area are mainly vegetarians and do not exceed 200 pounds, he said.
“They eat nuts, leaves and scratch around for grubs,” he said. “It’s not like an aggressive predator that is going to eat flesh.”
Bears don’t generally go to populated areas, but when they do, it is usually after food, Nelson said.
“They’re going to get away from people as a general rule,” he said. “If you leave dog food or scraps, that might be why a bear is hanging around.”
Nelson said increased bear sightings in Georgia and other nearby states indicate that more bears could be making their way into Alabama.
Development most likely has driven the bears from their habitats.
They tend to follow river systems and streams, Nelson said.
Georgia has established a legal bear season in Floyd and Chattooga counties to keep the bear populations in check.
Last year more than 300 were legally harvested, Nelson said.
He said the number grew in North Carolina to more than 1,800 legally-harvested bear last year.
Bears still are protected in Alabama and not considered a game animal, Nelson said.
“We’re not anywhere close to where we’re going to have a nuisance,” he said. “A few are finding new territories to make a new home. Some people get a little nervous, but they’re no more of a threat than having a deer in the area.”
People should use common sense by keeping garbage in an enclosed can.
“Just be aware of what attracts bears,” Nelson said. “If you see one, give it plenty of space. You don’t have to grab a gun to defend your life.”
The black bears in this region are not the brown bears of the west and are not likely to attack, Nelson said.
“It’s not impossible, but it’s very unlikely that they’re going to attack someone,” he said.

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Fort Morgan drowning victim identified

Posted by Craig Myers, Staff Reporter May 09, 2009 2:05 PM

Categories: Breaking News

Baldwin County’s coroner has identified the woman who drowned Friday night on Fort Morgan after apparently getting caught in strong currents. 

Coroner Jim Small said today Margaret Goff, 75, was wading or swimming in the Gulf of Mexico near her home about 7 p.m. Friday when she got caught in an undertow or riptide. 

Some bystanders attempted to help her, Small said. Her body was recovered about 8 p.m. on the beach near the 8-mile marker point on the peninsula, authorities said. 

Red flags are flying today at the Gulf Shores Public Beach area due to rough surf and strong currents.

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Storms hit Ala. for 2nd day; tornado traps family

By BOB JOHNSON – 9 hours ago

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A day after heavy wind, rain and hail damaged homes across the South, torrential rains and possible tornadoes hit central Alabama on Thursday, flooding roads and briefly trapping a family when a tree fell on their mobile home.

No one was hurt, but authorities were forced to close a main road between Montgomery and nearby Wetumpka that was covered by floodwaters. Other roads were deep in water as heavy rains and thunderstorms pounded the area. Street flooding was so bad at one point at the Statehouse that legislators halted work to check on their cars, some submerged in window-high water.

“It is unusual to see cars floating in the parking lot. But it’s just a car. Thankfully no one was hurt,” said state Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb, whose new Hyundai Genesis was flooded.

Derek Hamilton, chief sergeant of arms at the Statehouse, said four feet of water was standing in the statehouse basement. Power was turned off as a precaution.

The legislators were preparing to reconvene across the street at the historic old Capitol, which sits on a hill and was unaffected. It will be the first time lawmakers have met there since 1986, when the House and Senate moved into the new statehouse.

Tuskegee police said a family had to be rescued after a tree fell into their mobile home about 7 a.m. CDT.

The National Weather Service said hazardous weather could threaten central and southern Alabama counties through the day as the storms pushed into southern Georgia.

Weather officials also confirmed that a Wednesday tornado caused damage across two counties in north Alabama. Michael Coyne of the weather service office in Huntsville said the tornado left a path of destruction nearly 11 miles long that was up to 75 yards wide in places.

More than 100 homes and businesses were damaged in the South on Wednesday by strong winds, heavy rains and golf ball-sized hail. Strong winds damaged homes in Arkansas and North Carolina, and debris blocked roads and damaged houses in north Mississippi. No serious injuries were reported.

Officials also increased the flow of water through dams to ease swollen rivers, including the Mississippi.

Associated Press writers Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Phillip Rawls in Montgomery and Garry Mitchell in Mobile contributed to this report.

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Large sinkhole develops in an Elba housing subdivision
Posted: 5:06 PM May 6, 2009 Last Updated: 5:08 PM May 6, 2009
Recent heavy rains may be responsible for the appearance of a sinkhole in the western Wiregrass. Crews are working to fill in the dirt on Pine Circle. It’s located in the Brookdale subdivision of Elba. The contractor will replace the manhole. It’s hoped that this will solve the problem. With Coffee County covered under the FEMA disaster declaration, local officials hope the federal dollars will reimburse them for the repairs which will run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Homeowners say it’s an inconvenience, but at least no one has been hurt. It’s hoped that the work on filling in the Elba sinkhole will be completed within the week.

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Heavy rainfall causes creek flooding in Tenn. county, tornado watches issued for northern Ala.

By Associated Press

6:15 PM CDT, May 2, 2009

AETNA, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say a dozen residents in a central Tennessee county have been evacuated from their homes because of flooding caused by heavy rain while tornado watches and warnings have been issued for northern Alabama.

Janet Kelley of the Hickman County Emergency Management Agency in Tennessee says flat-bottomed rescue boats were used Saturday morning to retrieve residents in Aetna, located about 80 miles southwest of Nashville.

Kelley says the flooding later receded and many of the residents were able to return to their homes. She says some county bridges remained closed because of the weather on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Fayette and Lamar counties in western Alabama.

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So sad and tragic. When they called off the search, I feared this would be the ending.

Missing high school student’s body found

By jim welsh

HANCOCK COUNTY – The body of a 17-year-old Hancock County High School student who apparently drowned was found in a beach area of Northwest Florida on Monday, authorities said.Sgt. Scott Haines, of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department, said the body of John D. Stephens of Bayside Park was located four miles west of Navarre Beach in the National Seashore area.

“His body was located and identified this afternoon,” Haines said Monday.

Stephens had disappeared in the surf Saturday, touching off an extensive search involving the Coast Guard and other agencies. He was a junior at Hancock High School.

The news fell heavily on Hancock County on Monday evening.

“This is such a tragedy,” said Alan Dedeaux, superintendent of the county schools. He had known Stephens most of the young man’s life.

Dedeaux said school officials would offer counseling to students if required.

“If the kids need somebody to talk to, our staff will set that up,” he said.

Stephens was swept into heavy surf Saturday evening, a victim of rough waters that caused officials to rescue about 30 people off Florida Panhandle beaches over the weekend.

The day before his body was located, the Coast Guard had dropped a search for Stephens that included a rescue helicopter, two small craft, and an 87-foot cutter. Petty Officer Tom Atkeson, of the Coast Guard’s 8th District headquarters in New Orleans, said Monday that his agency suspended its search for Stephens at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Santa Rosa County had discontinued its search as well by Monday, according to Haines. Because Stephens’ body was found in a National Seashore area, details will be handled by National Park Service Police, he said.

A family friend said Stephens’ mother, Jennifer Leitz, and other family members remained in the Pensacola area Monday to keep up with developments in the case.

Stephens was reported missing Saturday in the area of the Navarre Beach Pier after going to the beach with a relative. Navarre Beach is in Santa Rosa County, located just east of Escambia County and Pensacola Beach. The Coast Guard launched its search after receiving an alert around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Atkeson said.

The search included air and surface units and the Coast Guard Cutter Cobia, an 87-foot cutter that was diverted from other duties to the scene.

Stephens’ disappearance was the latest tragedy to befall members of his family, said Tammy Hoyt, the boy’s godmother and a close friend of his family. She said Stephens’ father, John M. Stephens, died in December and there were other recent illnesses and deaths in the family.

“It’s been one thing after another this family has gone through,” Hoyt said.

Hoyt described Stephens as “a typical teenager” who liked video games and music and played guitar. When younger, he was a Boy Scout in a Waveland troop, she said. Stephens had three sisters.

Rhett Ladner, principal at Hancock High, told the Sun Herald on Sunday that he and a school counselor had been working with Stephens to help him cope with the death of his father.

Officials reported that rip tides and rough surf caused a tragic weekend at Northwest Florida beaches. On Saturday, at least 25 people were rescued from the turbulent Gulf of Mexico by lifeguards. At least another five were rescued Sunday. There was one other confirmed water-related death. An Alabama man was caught in a riptide and drowned at Perdido Key.

On Monday, Hoyt said she was seeking ways to get financial help for Stephens’ family upon their return to Hancock County.

“The family will be in need of assistance when they return, as far as having to take off work to do all that they are doing,” she said. “The only thing I can do now is help them when they get back.”

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Pretty fascinating.

 

VorTek LLC, a small research and engineering company in Huntsville, Alabama, developed software that assessed tornado threats from analyzed National Weather Service data from 1950 through 2007.

 A map of the most tornado-prone spots for 26 states of interest was developed using the Site Assessment of Tornado Threat (SATT) software, 

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Earthquake felt in Chilton County

By Mike Kelley (Contact) | Clanton Advertiser

Published Tuesday, April 21, 2009

An earthquake that occurred north of Centreville early Tuesday morning had many Chilton County residents calling the United States Geological Survey to report they believed they experienced an earthquake.

By mid-morning Tuesday, 21 county residents had reported they felt what they thought was an earthquake.

The USGS released a statement Tuesday that a 3.8-magnitude earthquake had occurred approximately four miles north of Centreville in Bibb County at 5:25 a.m.

The earthquake occurred, according to the USGS, 3.1 miles below the earth’s surface.

There have been no reports of injuries, deaths or damage caused by the earthquake.

Though the epicenter was approximately 56 miles from Clanton, residents heard and felt the earthquake. Others as far away as Alexander City reported they felt the earthquake.

Tuesday’s earthquake was the second to be reported this year in Bibb County. On February 18, an earthquake that measured 2.2 occurred approximately 10 miles south of Centreville.

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The National Weather Service now has an interactive Google map display of the Sunday night Alabama tornadoes available. Check out this link:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=110057528693910501597.000468128cf062f522312&ll=33.063924,-86.671143&spn=3.337261,4.921875&z=8