"You work and work and work and bam, there it is again."

That's the way Symmes Township trustee Ron Hatfield described cleaning up after yet another storm. Hatfield yesterday told members of the Lawrence County Commission that workers in his township had just gotten finally mastered the cleanup from February's ice storm when Mother Nature made another mess over the weekend in the form of a severe thunderstorm. The wind and rain downed trees and washed out roads. Hatfield said workers are back again grading and graveling roads.

Elizabeth Township trustee Ron Davis understands Hatfield's frustration. "Last year we chipped and sealed roads, and then we had to fight the ice storm. Now we've got to go back out and just start over."

Davis said Sisler Hollow and Fox Hollow were the worst hit areas. "We've got tiles stopped up with debris now, and it's torn up blacktop in some places," Davis said. "It's a real problem, I tell you."

Lawrence County Emergency Management Agency Director Don Mootz said so far, his office has calculated 14 instances of major home damage and 20 instances of minor damage. Mootz said any damage that involves the living quarters of a residence in considered major damage. He asked that anyone whose houses were damaged in the weekend storm contact his office at 533-4375. The county must have 25 instances of major damage before local officials can ask for a state disaster declaration.

Some people are finding the cleanup will involved more than a trash bag or two. Don Mootz said one woman called his office and said she discovered a collection of approximately 90 tires strung together, and she wondered what to do with them. Ironton Lawrence County Community Action Special Projects Director Dale Mootz said there are two businesses that do accept old tires: Dalton Tire Recycling in Westwood, Ky., and Cooksey Brothers Landfill in rural Boyd County, Ky, will both buy old tires.