LEXINGTON (LEX 18) — Utility crews continued to make progress restoring power, with hard-hit Fayette and Woodford counties seeing a major reduction in outages caused by the devastating storms that raked the region Friday.
Lexington saw big gains, with Kentucky Utilities showing fewer than 2,000 customers without power.
Mayor Jim Gray heralded the progress Monday morning:
Progress continues: The number of those without power after last Friday’s storm is now 1,650.
— Mayor Jim Gray (@JimGrayLexKY) July 23, 2018
Woodford County remained the biggest problem facing KU, with nearly 7,000 customers still out Monday morning. While that still accounts for 50 percent of its customers, that’s down from a height of about 90% of clients. Blue Grass Energy Cooperative also serves a small portion of the area but was showing no outages.
In Woodford Co on Montgomery Ave the power still isn’t on. And the damage is considerable. This is the backyard of a resident. Car is under this mess in the background. But he’s in good spirits. @LEX18News pic.twitter.com/AyV5sv5Hbs
— Michael Berk (@LEX18_Michael) July 23, 2018
A KU representative says about 80 poles snapped and 1,000 lines got ripped down across central Kentucky during Friday’s storm.
At its height, KU says about 80,000 customers were without power. Company spokesman Daniel Lowry said the damage was the most extensive to the utility’s system since the ice storm of 2003.
Outages can be tracked here and here.
As the lights come back on, much of the attention is turning toward cleanup.
In Lexington, residents were encouraged to bring downed limbs to the curb for regular pickup or call 311 for debris that’s too large.
Residents can also bring debris to two disposal locations: the Haley Pike Landfill at 4172 Hedger Lane and a special collection location at 1631 Old Frankfort Pike.
