Updated: Major power outages persist across Kentucky. KU explains long Lexington outages

Taylor Six

Editor’s note: This story is no longer being updated. For the newest information on Kentucky’s windstorm and recovery efforts, please visit our latest story here.

More than 100,000 customers throughout Kentucky were still without power Sunday evening as a result of a Friday windstorm – which one power company labeled as the third most damaging weather event in 20 years for their services.

According to the Kentucky Utilities website, Friday’s weather impacted more than 300,000 customers across their service area and brought down 2,500 power lines. It also broke more than 230 utility poles. This windstorm ranks behind the 2009 ice storm and the 2008 windstorm in terms of the number of customers affected and total system impact.

“We have every resource responding to this event, including an additional 1,500 resources from other utilities,” KU said on its website.

As of 10:30 a.m. Sunday, 70,000 KU & LGE customers were still without power statewide, according to Daniel Lowry, a spokesman for KU. In Lexington, he said about 38,000 were still without power.

By 9 p.m. Sunday, the total number of power outages in Lexington was just under 28,000, according to poweroutage.us, a website that tracks power outages across the United States.

A line worker with Patriot Power works to clear limbs from a fallen tree away from power lines on Tanforan Drive Sunday, March 5, 2023. Two day earlier a strong wind storm knocked out power to much of Lexington, Ky.
A line worker with Patriot Power works to clear limbs from a fallen tree away from power lines on Tanforan Drive Sunday, March 5, 2023. Two day earlier a strong wind storm knocked out power to much of Lexington, Ky.

Lowry told the Herald-Leader he hoped the company would be in a better position Sunday to make an estimate of when power would be restored to customers still in the dark.

“At this point, KU does not have an estimated time when the bulk of all customers in Fayette County will have power restored,” an email from Mayor Linda Gorton’s office said as of 5:20 p.m. Sunday.

KU’s online outage map showed Sunday afternoon that some outages were expected to be restored by 11 p.m. Monday. Others showed that power would be restored as late as Wednesday by 11 p.m.

Lowry said each outage is different and has its own unique challenges for crews, which is why estimated restoration times can vary by customer and location.

“We look at the type of work involved and base the estimate on data involving similar situations and equipment. We know how long it takes for various types of work, for example, and that helps us come to the most accurate estimate possible,” he said. “With additional crews from our mutual assistance partners, hopefully we’ll see these outage numbers continue to go down significantly.

“(On Saturday) crews were working to protect wires that were down and assessing the damage. (Sunday) we are hoping to tackle the restoration process better and make a lot of progress over the next couple of days,” Lowry said.

He said crews were working 16 hour shifts and dedicated to getting communities back up and running as quickly as possible.

“We understand people are anxious, but we just ask for patience as we work through this multi-day event,” Lowry said.

Mayor Linda Gorton’s office said in a release Sunday that more restoration estimates will be added to KU’s website based on “on-site assessment of system damage and the various degrees of difficulty of each repair job.”

Across Kentucky there were still more than 140,000 power outages Sunday evening, according to poweroutage.us.

On Saturday afternoon, the number of outages was greater than 355,000 as the storm, with winds clocking more than 70 miles per hour in some places, tore through the state’s power grid.

“While this may be a multi-day effort, teams are working hard to restore power. Thank you to everyone out there doing their part to help those affected,” Beshear wrote in a tweet.

A tree and downed power lines sit on a house on Arcadia Park, just off Nicholasville Road, Sunday, March 5, 2023. Two day earlier a strong wind storm knocked out power to much of Lexington, Ky.
A tree and downed power lines sit on a house on Arcadia Park, just off Nicholasville Road, Sunday, March 5, 2023. Two day earlier a strong wind storm knocked out power to much of Lexington, Ky.

In addition to the state of emergency Beshear declared Friday, 37 counties and 11 cities have said they will declare states of emergency because of the windstorm, Beshear said.

Kentucky Power, which services customers in Eastern Kentucky, said in a Facebook post that 18,000 customer outages were reported in their service area. As of Sunday afternoon, approximately 1,700 customers remained without power “after a very successful day of restoration Friday night and Saturday.”

Out of the approximate 259 individual remaining outage cases, 182 have fewer than 10 customers on each outage, Kentucky Power reported.

They expect restoration will be 95% complete by Monday evening.

KU will have additional crews coming from out of state to help restore power throughout Sunday and Monday. Lowry reported 1,500 “additional resources” are coming to join KU’s 500 crews which have been working. A staging area is being set up at the Kentucky Horse Park to coordinate efforts.

Kentucky Power has more than 600 personnel, business partners and external resources responding to assess damage and restore power.

Many Lexington traffic signals still ‘not functioning’

Lt. Joe Anderson with Lexington police said Sunday there are still many “dark intersections” where stoplights are inoperable in the city. He said a few have had their power restored. Police are using inverters to operate power at some intersections.

According to Mayor Linda Gorton, as of Sunday at 5 p.m., there are twisted signals at 10 intersections, and 10 dark signals at intersections.

Gorton’s office stated in an email that 15 intersections remain blocked because of downed power lines and storm debris.

Before street crews can clear the debris, electricians have to clear the wires.

“There are still a lot of intersections that are not functioning, and I would remind people that you treat those as a four-way stop and have one car go at a time,” Anderson said. “Don’t try to have two cars sneak past.”

He also asked for neighbors to check on others who are without power.

Dozens of FCPS buildings without power

Of the thousands of buildings in Lexington without power, 16 of those include Fayette County Public School buildings, according to FCPS Superintendent Demetrus Liggins.

In an email sent to students’ parents on Saturday, Liggins reported the power outages and said the school district will need to make repairs to roofs, gutters, awnings and ceilings. He said there was no “significant destruction.”

During a press conference Saturday afternoon, Mayor Linda Gorton reported that 10 of the buildings without power were schools.

Liggins said in his statement that he hopes the outages will not affect the school week.

“Our crews have already started clean-up efforts and repairs and we are hopeful that there won’t be any interruptions to school next week,” Liggins wrote. “However, during Mayor Gorton’s afternoon briefing, officials with Kentucky Utilities said Friday’s wind event has caused the third largest electrical outage in the past 20 years and that it will take multiple days to restore power.”

All but one branch of the Lexington Public Library has reopened. On Saturday, all branches were closed because of power outages.

Debris from a downed tree blocks the street on Arcadia Park leading out to Nicholasville Road Sunday, March 5, 2023. Two day earlier a strong wind storm knocked out power to much of Lexington, Ky.
Debris from a downed tree blocks the street on Arcadia Park leading out to Nicholasville Road Sunday, March 5, 2023. Two day earlier a strong wind storm knocked out power to much of Lexington, Ky.

Lexington Senior Center closed on Monday

The Lexington Senior Center on Life Lane will be closed on Monday due to power outages and power lines down in the area, according to Mayor Linda Gorton’s office.

The city’s satellite senior centers will be open. These include Bell House, open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday at 545 Sayre Ave.; Black and Williams Center, open from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday, at 498 Georgetown St.; and Charles Young Center, open 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 215 Midland Ave.

Gorton’s office advises that people in need of help related to medical issues or exposure because of the wind storm and power outages can call 3-1-1 for referral.

Cases will be referred to the Red Cross, which will assess each case individually to determine needs and appropriate assistance. The Red Cross can be reached at 1-800-RED-CROS or 1-800-733-2767.

Bridge destroyed at Red River Gorge

A bridge at the Red River Gorge was destroyed — potentially by the windstorm, according to a social media post from the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team.

The rescue team shared in a Facebook post they were called into the area for hikers stranded on the far side of the suspension bridge on the Sheltowee Trace Trail. When they arrived, the team discovered the suspension bridge was demolished by a fallen tree.

They ask hikers plan accordingly when hiking the trail.

“This will be a major construction project for our friends at the U.S. Forest Service-Daniel Boone National Forest and we wouldn’t expect this to reopen anytime soon,” the post read.”

The family was able to find another way out of the trail safely.

Catch up

Advertisement