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Other Butlers caught in grip of winter

Iowa county has it worse

Have frighteningly low temps, extreme wind chills and predictions of relentless waves of snow got you down, Butler County?

You’re not alone.

We’re not the only Butler that is feeling winter’s grip. Same-named communities from around the country are reporting extra weather woes in their own Butler neighborhoods.

For example, in Butler County, Iowa, the air temperature on Monday dipped to 20 below zero, with wind gusts up to 55 mph bringing the wind chill down to a cool 45 below zero.

“Not feeling so bad about your weather there now, are you?” asked Jeff Kolb, executive director of the Butler County Development Corporation in that state.

The weather brought a standstill to regular day-to-day activities and knocked out electricity to thousands in the northern Iowa county with a population of 14,867.

The road conditions there were so bad that firefighters had to borrow snowmobiles to rescue motorists stranded on the interstate.

“This has been a year of records,” Kolb said, who noted that normally in January the highs are in the 30s and lows still in the double digits there.

In Michigan, Butler Township is a small, rural community with one little country store, a strong Amish presence and good share of folks who chop and burn wood as their home heat source.

“We usually have a little cold snap in January, but this is brutal,” said Linda Hammontree, chief clerk. “We have that polar vortex thing going on.”

The average temperature there this time of year is about 20 degrees. On Monday, it dropped to about 25 below zero with wind chill factored in.

“We’re having a small blizzard,” said Hammontree, who runs the township business from her home office. “We canceled the township meeting. And the schools are closed.”

Farmers who grow wheat, corn and soybeans make up most of the population. So the community relies heavily on Branch County for services like snow plowing.

“The county does a good job considering we are way out here so we’re always last,” Hammontree said.

In some southern cities, like Butler, Ga., officials are not equipped for even the threat of bad weather. Normally, this time of the year people are sporting light jackets with highs in the mid-50s.

“We’re going to get some snow and sleet tomorrow, which will shut everything down,” said Vicki Wainwright, city clerk, on Monday. “It’s been cold. The lowest we’ve had is 12 degrees at night.”

Like Butler County and Butler, Pa., Butler County, Ky., was named for Revolutionary War Gen. Richard Butler.

But the similarities seem to end there: the entire Kentucky sister county has a population of about 15,000. Residents there rely on a couple of small automobile plants and a plastic factory for jobs.

In recent days, it’s been significantly colder than the normal 36 degrees. Overnight, the thermometer went to about minus 9. And it snowed 2 to 3 inches a couple days ago.

“We hardly ever get any snow here,” said Terry Hunt, emergency management director.

Hunt said the state plows the roads and generally does a good job.

“We’re fine here,” Hunt said. “It’s cold ... But we’re fine.”

Hunt said the biggest weather-related issue facing the county has been a shortfall of propane. About 30 percent of the homes in the county use propane as a heat source and local suppliers did not stock up heading into winter months.

“The service companies are running out. And in the last couple of days the price went from $2 to $4 a gallon,” Hunt said.

Hunt said residents haven’t yet turned to alternative and riskier heat sources.

“We’ve had a few fires, but not due to heating sources,” Hunt said. “We have an arson problem.”

The other Butler County reporting the most similar weather to our county is in Ohio, just above Cincinnati.

Lauren Southwood, sales manager at the Butler County Visitors Bureau there, said, “It’s colder than usual.”

She said people in the area have been enjoying sledding and turkey hunting.

Although they do not have any nearby ski slopes, Southwood said, “It’s perfect for skiing.”

SOME PLACE LIKE HOME


While Butler County residents shiver their way through this week's polar temperatures, citizens who share a connection of sorts by living in other places named Butler are also facing chilling weather conditions.

Temperatures for 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. today were:

HIGH LOW

Butler County, Iowa

3 -13

Butler Township, Mich. 2 -13

Butler County, Ohio

10 -11

Butler County, Ky.

18 2

Butler, Ga.

32 19

BUTLER, PA HIGH: 7 LOW: -9

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