UPDATE (7 p.m. on April 2, 2023) – Kentucky Power has released an update on efforts to restore power to customers after severe winds on Saturday, April 1.

According to Kentucky Power officials, more than 70% of the 21,126 customers who lost power during the weather event have now had power restored, with a total of 560 outages reported. Crews say 6,400 of the customers are still without power and 428 outage cases remain active.

Kentucky Power says crews are continuing to find extensive damage to electrical facilities caused by the winds. They also say much of the terrain in impacted areas is not accessible by utility trucks.

KENTUCKY (WOWK) – Crews with Kentucky Power are continuing efforts to clean up damage near power lines and restore service to customers after high winds blew threw the Tri-State for the second Saturday in a row on April 1.

According to Kentucky Power, the National Weather Service said areas in Pike, Knott and Breathitt counties saw wind gusts reaching a peak of 60-70 miles per hour. Kentucky Power says due to these high winds, approximately 21,126 customers lost power with 560 active outages confirmed on Saturday night.

Even in yesterday’s weather conditions, crews were able to restore power to around 10,000 of those customers. The company says as of Sunday morning, approximately 11,500 are still without power. This includes approximately 3,514 Pike County customers, 1,946 Floyd County customers, 1,618 Martin County customers, 1,215 Perry County customers and 1,139 Letcher County customers.

The company says due to yesterday’s wind, they were not able to take buckets into the air to work on restoration in several areas for most of the day.

From Saturday’s damage assessment, crews found 40 broken poles, 45 broken cross arms, and “hundreds of spans of wire down.” Approximately 500 personnel from Kentucky Power and its business partners and external resources are responding to the area. The company says additional crews will be coming to the region to help Sunday and Monday.

While restoration is expected to take several days, today’s more favorable weather conditions will help crews work to get power restored to more customers.

Officials with Kentucky Power are reminding all residents to avoid getting too close to downed power lines. The lines carry an electric current that can cause serious or fatal injuries to anyone who touches it. Kentucky Power officials say if you come across a downed power line, contact the company at 1-800-572-1113 or call 911 immediately and keep yourself and others away from it.