Joe P. Asher
Staff Writer
Harlan County finally received some much needed rain on Thursday, but it came along with severe winds and thunderstorms that caused damage and power outings throughout southeast Kentucky.
According to Harlan County Emergency Management Director David McGill, most of the damage involved fallen trees and downed power lines.
“The major thing we had was a couple of trees down and power outages,” said McGill. “As far as we know there were no injuries.
“All roads are clear, they were all cleared up last night,” said McGill. “They were still restoring some power as of this morning. As far as I’m aware of, all the power has been restored. There might be a couple isolated places, but all the major things have been restored.”
Kentucky Utilities (KU) Statewide Media Relations Manager Cliff Feltham stated in an interview conducted on Friday that the storm initially left approximately 4,000 people across Harlan County without electricity.
According to Feltham, crews were brought in from other areas of the state, mainly central and northern Kentucky, to assist with getting power restored. As of 3 p.m. on Friday, approximately 185 KU customers remained without electricity. Power is expected to be restored to those people by 7 p.m.
Feltham said the repairs have progressed past the point where power can be restored to a large number of residences at once. Crews are now working on repairing damage that affects five or less households.
McGill explained there are helpful actions the average citizen can take in case of emergency weather.
“Anytime we do have storms like this, if people will call in if they see significant damages in their area…that would be greatly appreciated,” said McGill.
Storm damage can be reported by calling the Harlan County Emergency Management Office at 606-573-6082.
Reach Joe P. Asher at 606-573-4510 of jasher@heartlandpublications.com
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