(The following article by Alex Davis was posted on the Courier-Journal website on January 18.)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Soon after Tuesday’s freight-train derailment in northern Bullitt County, Maria Campbell came down with a headache and a sore throat. She ended up in a local hospital, and missed most of her workday.
Campbell was still taking medication for breathing problems yesterday afternoon, but her mood had improved after she visited a center set up by CSX, owner of the tracks where the fiery wreck occurred.
The railroad established the center for residents and businesses affected by the wreck, reimbursing them for lost wages, medical costs, car rentals, hotel bills and other expenses.
“They’ve answered all my questions,” Campbell, 53, said after visiting the center at Hearthstone Inn & Suites just east of Interstate 65. “I feel much more at ease than I did when I came in here.”
Claims at the center are being handled case by case, and there is no limit to the amount of money an individual or business can receive.
David Hall, a CSX vice president in charge of government relations for Kentucky, said people who file a claim won’t have to sign a legal waiver or give up any other rights in exchange for money. In most cases, he said, a check will be written immediately.
CSX has a list of residents and businesses within one mile of the crash site, he said, but claims from outside that area also would be considered. Applicants should bring proof of address and any receipts.
A steady trickle of people filed into the second-floor center yesterday. Connie Gossett, who lives in a nearby subdivision east of I-65, came with her mother, Roma Miles, to fill out a request for $70 that the family spent on meals after they were evacuated.
For other visitors, the costs were far more complicated.
Yvonda Rash, who lives several hundred yards from the crash site, said roadblocks prevented her from picking up her two teenage daughters for 45 minutes after the explosion.
Emergency crews eventually reached the girls, but Rash said she was so distraught that she collapsed at a shelter later and spent the night at Baptist Hospital East in Louisville.
“I had the scare of my life,” she said yesterday in an interview at the CSX claims center. “I couldn’t breathe, and my head felt like it was going to explode.”
With help from CSX, five members of the Rash family planned to spend last night at a hotel in Brooks. They said the power was still shut off at their home, leaving an uncertain fate for their water pipes, their two dogs, 19 rabbits, a pair of cats and a guinea pig.
CSX isn’t required by law to reimburse the residents and businesses, Hall said, but the company believes it is the right thing to do.
“We have set this up because we want to take care of folks who have been inconvenienced,” he said.
More than 700 employees of area businesses were evacuated as a result of the crash, and hundreds were temporarily forced from their homes. At least 28 people sought medical care.
Local governments and fire departments also will be reimbursed for their work, Hall said. Those claims will be handled after the cleanup is finished.