WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WTVF) — Rural Tennessee communities are still struggling to find essential heating fuel days after a devastating ice storm left residents without power and heat.
John, who lives in a mobile home on the Kentucky-Tennessee line, drove miles to find propane after his supply ran out during the storm.
"All my water lines are froze up because I didn't have any heat or anything. All the electricity is out, ran out of propane," John said.
His search brought him to a gas station in Westmoreland, one of the few places still carrying fuel after the ice storm disrupted supply chains across the region.
Renee Owings, who works at Ken's Korner in Westmoreland, said the fuel shortage has been unprecedented.
"I've been here two years and I have never seen this town be out of gas, out of kerosene, out of propane," Owings said.
The shortage isn't just an inconvenience for many rural residents – it's a matter of survival. Kerosene serves as the primary heat source for homes in remote areas.
"You've got a lot of people that live in the outer areas of here and a lot of them their only heat is kerosene. People were going up to Bowling Green trying to find kerosene. People were going all the way to Hendersonville," Owings said.
Owings placed orders for fuel deliveries to their station, but the trucks never arrived. Panic set in as storms hit and supply trucks couldn't navigate the treacherous roads to reach rural communities.
"On 31 you've got the big hill in Westmoreland. Highway 10 you've got the big hill. Nobody around this area could get up and down it," Owings said.
"The trucks couldn't even keep up so we just did without up here," Owings said.
For elderly and disabled residents in rural areas, going without heat can be life-threatening.
"You've got elderly, you've got disabled, you've got a lot of people up here that can't try to get kerosene," Owings said.
Owings believes suppliers abandon communities like Westmoreland when resources become scarce, leaving vulnerable residents behind.
Despite the hardships, neighbors have stepped up to help each other. One woman was stuck in her house since Friday night without food, heat or electricity. Community members retrieved her and brought her to safety with food and warmth.
John said the propane he found will provide crucial warmth in the coming days.
"It's gonna give me heat inside the house," John said.
Owings struggles when she can't help people like John who call desperately seeking supplies. She's urging the community to look out for one another during this crisis.
"We really need everybody to stop, take a breath and look around at your surroundings. What can you do to improve it?" Owings said.
She's particularly encouraging people to check on elderly neighbors and those living alone during this difficult time.
Are you facing heating fuel shortages in your community? Have you seen neighbors helping each other during this crisis? Share your story and watch our full video report on how rural Tennessee communities are surviving this fuel shortage emergency. Contact reporter Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com with your experiences.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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