Fast-moving remnants of Hurricane Helene still made a mark in Central and Eastern Kentucky
Republished from WEKU.
Recovery work is in full mode operation across Central and Eastern Kentucky this afternoon. Hurricane Helene’s remnants made their presence known in many communities.
Power outages, caused by trees falling into electrical lines, are getting attention. L-G and E/ Kentucky Utilities Spokesman Daniel Lowery says more than 500 workers have responded to downed lines. Although there are scattered outages throughout the utility’s service area, Lowery said a spot in Wise Virginia might be the hardest hit.
“I think we have about 20,000 customers that we serve there in that county alone and I think we had more than 13,000 customers without power at one point,” said Lowery.
Lowery said those numbers are reduced now. The number of people without power overall in the L-G and E/KU system exceeded 100,000 at one point.
It’s been an active day for emergency responders in many central Kentucky communities as the remnants of Hurricane Helene came through the Commonwealth. Fayette County Emergency Management Director Rob Larson said winds gusted to around 65 miles per hour and knocked down over 100 wires. He looked for a break during the afternoon hours.
“Understand with a storm this broad and as violent as it’s been, I think we’re doing pretty good. But, it’s taken real efforts across the whole government and whole responder community,” said Larson.
Just one example, said Larson, is street and roads crew members removed trees blocking busy Nicholasville Road. He said, by early afternoon, there had been one report of a non-life-threatening injury.
In Estill County, Deputy Emergency Management Director Lucas Barnes said a fairly substantial power outage was addressed and although low-lying flooding can be an issue, it hasn’t been thus far.
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Originally published by WEKU.
Republished with permission.
