More than 607,000 without power in Kentucky due to storms

by Amy Judd | January 30, 2009 at 08:45 am

2368 views | 22 Recommendations | 15 comments

Kentucky remained encased in ice today after their recent ice storms, and now about 607,000 people are without power throughout the state.

Crews are still clearing off major roads, and are working to get cell phone service restored and water pumping, and are trying to restore power as much as they can.

However, progress is slow as so many people are without power and the ice is making conditions hard to work in.

Meanwhile, the death toll climbed. At least six deaths in Kentucky have been blamed on the storm. Nationally, the winter storm has claimed at least 32 lives.

President Barack Obama issued a federal emergency disaster declaration for Kentucky and Arkansas late Wednesday. By noon Thursday, 50 generators large enough to power hospitals or water treatment plants arrived at Fort Campbell for distribution.

Five communication vans for emergency operations were on their way to Western Kentucky, where there were widespread cell and land-line phone outages. Federal Emergency Management Agency staff were expected to arrive soon to help with damage assessments.

1,000 members of the National Guard have been dispatched to help with the emergency situation.
This weekend is forecasting warmer weather, as what is really needed is a break from the extreme weather.

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MrFSS

at 10:29 on January 30th, 2009

View on our deck in Georgetown, KY after the big ice storm of 2009.

MrFSS has contributed a photo to this story.

adampad

at 10:39 on January 30th, 2009

Madison County got hit hard by the ice storm in Kentucky. The entire city of Berea was out of power. Check out www.shutterspeedster.com/blog for more photos of Berea Kentucky.

adampad has contributed a photo to this story.

angelicredhead

at 11:17 on January 30th, 2009

This used to be our glorious Birch tree. It snapped twice at the top, the two tallest limbs, and is now hanging almost to the ground as we have had snow on top of the ice since this picture was taken.

angelicredhead has contributed a photo to this story.

kygman

at 11:26 on January 30th, 2009

This is one of the power lines that go by our house in Cadiz, Ky. We've been hearing trees snapping day and night.

kygman has contributed a photo to this story.

A. Tran

at 14:07 on January 30th, 2009

Good luck to those poor people in Kentucky ...

vt335

at 16:01 on January 30th, 2009

I woke up Tuesday January 27 to find ice covering everything. The trees, road, power lines and vehicles were all iced over. It was really cold that day with the temperature in the teens and slippery roads there was not very much traffic in my neighborhood.

vt335 has contributed a photo to this story.

pughwee

at 16:06 on January 30th, 2009

Lexington is starting to thaw today, but expect temps to go down as low as 7 degrees tonight. Loads more snow expected Monday and Tuesday. We just can't wait;-(

rossalan40361

at 19:41 on January 30th, 2009

rossalan40361 has contributed a photo to this story.

t_roy_€

at 20:47 on January 30th, 2009

cold

t_roy_€ has contributed a photo to this story.

J. (not verified)

at 21:17 on January 30th, 2009

If someone you know is stuck without power in; Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Arkansas or other states affected by the Ice/Snow Storms, you can log onto www.211.org to find Social Services Help (warm shelters, restrooms with running water, a hot meal etc) and relay that information to your loved ones or friends in those area's.

You can search 211.org by; County, State, or Zip Code. Once you perfom your search, 211.org, will locate the 411 on all the local Social Services Resources (based on your search in the U.S.).

211.org is in partnership with the United Way. The site is easy to use, and you may be able to find help for those freezing and without power or running water.

Uwe Paschen

at 10:55 on January 31st, 2009

I know the felling of freezing and having no power, it is not funny at all.

acrphoto

at 12:28 on January 31st, 2009

We were among the lucky few who kept our power during the storm. We lost it briefly yesterday, but power has now been restored. We lost some tree branches as did most of our neighbors. The kids enjoyed being able to "skate" on our back lawn. See more images from the ice storm in Lexington, KY on my blog at: http://www.atcloserangephotography.com

acrphoto has contributed a photo to this story.

Edna (not verified)

at 16:05 on January 31st, 2009

I have relatives who live in Scott County. One of their tree gave way to the ice and snow and nearly landed on their house where their daughters' bedrooms were. They said they had another tree fall in their back yard....so far they still have power. Their son's auto had a branch to fall on the back end of truck....when he moved his truck....the tree finished falling where is truck had been sitting! I know the weather is bad.....My heart goes out to everyone who has been hit by this horrible ice/snow storm.

Neika (not verified)

at 17:07 on February 2nd, 2009

I submitted a photo in this.

The ice storm was absolutely horrible.

Devin Blamer (not verified)

at 10:21 on February 3rd, 2009

I'm a 15 year old living in Martin County, Kentucky. I live in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. I haven't had school in 11 days straight, not looking for it tomorrow. Some very bad conditions here.