LEXINGTON, Ky. — Thousands of Kentuckians remain without power after deadly tornadoes tore through the western part of the commonwealth.
What You Need To Know
- Tornado knocked out power for thousands
- Crews from around Kentucky assisting in restoration
- Could be months before some areas have electricity
- Where debris is piled could impede progress
Officials estimate restoring power to some residents could take months, as all Mayfield Electric and Water Systems customers are without power, according to PowerOutage.us. The energy provider, which services more than half of the city of Mayfield, has not frequently updated its service status due to the severe weather. But, state officials confirmed that repairs in Mayfield are slow-moving.
“We're making extraordinary progress for the damage this significant across our commonwealth,” said Michael Dossett, Kentucky Emergency Management Director, at a press conference. “Now that does not include Mayfield's electric. It doesn't exist. So, that will take weeks and months to rebuild.”
According to the company’s website, as of 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16, more than 800 Kentucky Utilities customers remained without electricity. Power has been restored to all Warren RECC customers as of Thursday afternoon. More than 4,100 Bowling Green Municipal Utilities customers remain without electricity, and the company tweeted complete restoration will likely take more than a week.
Dossett said power had been restored to more than 10,000 customers in Kentucky since the storms hit late last week. Dossett asked residents in the state to be patient as restoration efforts are underway.
Crews from electric companies throughout Kentucky and around the country are in tornado-stricken areas to aid in power restoration efforts.
“If you see a truck on your street or in the area, that doesn’t mean the power is going to come back,” said Joe Arnold, spokesperson for Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “It’s not just a matter of repairing the system. In many cases, it’s rebuilding a system that’s decades old. On Saturday, there were about 80,000 Cooperative members impacted by weather all across Kentucky that were without power. We’re now down to maybe 15,000, primarily in the western side of the state. This situation has a whole other level of danger; not knowing what’s in the debris can make it tricky.”
Kentucky Electric Cooperatives is asking residents not to pile debris in the path or corridor of electric service because it could impede the restoration process.