Updated: Crews restore power in Kentucky after severe storms cause damage

Nearly 100,000 customers in Kentucky were without power early Monday morning after severe thunderstorms rolled through the state the night before.

More than 99,000 outages were reported in the state early Monday morning, according to poweroutage.us, a website that tracks power outages across the country. As of 1:30 p.m., that number had dropped to about 58,000.

In Central Kentucky, Madison and Jessamine counties were reporting the most outages: Madison County had 4,101 and Jessamine County had 3,858 at about 1:30 p.m. Jessamine County had previously reported more than 10,000 outages due to the storms, according to poweroutage.us.

Roughly 200 customers in Fayette County were without power Monday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

Several counties in southern and Western Kentucky had significant power outages Monday morning as well. Allen, Barren, Boyle, Bullitt, Butler, Clinton, Graves, Grayson, Edmonson, Jefferson, Hart, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Oldham, Russell, Warren and Wayne counties all had at least 1,000 customers without power, according to poweroutage.us.

More than 80% of customers in Edmonson County were without power Monday morning. By 1:30 p.m. that figure had dropped to about 68%.

The NWS was surveying several areas of Kentucky for storm damage Monday, including Bullitt, Floyd, Larue, Madison, Russell and Warren counties. Surveyors found preliminary damage indicating an EF-2 tornado in Hardin County.

There were some reports of flooding in low-lying areas of Kentucky, but wind and hail accounted for most of the damage across the state, according to Jessica Elbouab, a spokesperson for Kentucky Emergency Management. KYEM received reports of hail ranging from a quarter-inch in diameter up to 2.5 inches.

“Richmond got beat up pretty bad,” Elbouab said.

There were reports late Sunday of wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph, according to Elbouab.

As the storm hit in Lexington and other parts of Central Kentucky around 10 p.m., the National Weather Service warned of baseball sized hail. The NWS encouraged people to seek a sturdy shelter or run the risk of suffering a severe injury.

Storm brings damage, power outages in Jessamine County

Many in Jessamine County were still without power Monday morning. Johnny Adams, director of the Emergency Management Agency in Jessamine County, said crews were working to assess the damage but he hoped to have the power back on later Monday.

“Hopefully by 3 or 4 this afternoon everybody will have their power restored,” Adams said Monday.

Most of the reported damage in Jessamine County is in the Wilmore area and the southeastern portions of Jessamine County, Adams said. There were reports of trees that had fallen on structures, specifically on Asbury Drive by Asbury University’s campus and on Main Street, but there were no injuries.

Adams said the second line of the storm, which hit at 9 to 9:30 p.m., did the most damage.

“For some reason that second line had a whole lot of energy in it and it tore up Wilmore throughout Jessamine County,” Adams said.

Adams said emergency management received a report of missing ATV riders during the storm, but they were found within a couple hours. The riders had a mechanical breakdown and had to take shelter during the storm, he said.

Ping-pong ball sized hail reported in Madison County

Many homes and vehicles suffered hail damage as a result of Sunday evening’s severe thunderstorm, according to Makenzie Davis, a spokesperson with the Madison County Emergency Management Agency.

Davis said hail damage reports have been sent in from across the county. Most of the hail reports are from hail the size of ping-pong balls, but there have been a couple of golf ball-sized hail reports.

“Any cars that were sitting outside do have some hail damage to the roof and windshield,” Davis said.

High winds also knocked down some trees and power lines. Davis said there were no road closures in Madison County.

Thousands in Madison County remained without power late Monday morning. Davis said she was unsure about an estimated time restoration of the power, but she encouraged anyone who is medically at-risk and concerned about a power outage to call authorities if help is needed.

When will power be restored?

LG&E & KU was still assessing the conditions of damages Monday morning to determine an estimated time of restoration for those still without power, according to its power outage map. An LG&E & KU spokesperson said they hope to have estimated power restoration times on its power outage map by end of the day Monday.

LG&E & KU estimated that power for the company’s Jessamine County customers would be restored by 1 a.m. Tuesday.

LG&E & KU has received more than 450 reports of wires down across Kentucky as a result of the storm. A spokesperson said power agencies outside of their system are assisting with power restoration efforts.

Weather patterns are expected to return to normal this week, with high temperatures in the low to mid 80s and sunshine in the forecast. There is a chance for scattered thunderstorms Monday, particularly northeast of a line from Jasper, Indiana to Elizabethtown to Stanford, the NWS said.