Hurricane-force winds leave half a million Kentuckians without power, most of them rural electric co-op members

Wind destroyed some farm buildings in the southern part of the Bluegrass Region. (Inter County Energy photo)

What was effectively a dry-land hurricane left almost half a million Kentuckians without power Friday evening, most of them rural. More than 300,000 consumer-members of rural electric cooperatives lost power, the Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives said Sunday night.

"With damage as widespread as any natural disaster in Kentucky electric cooperative history, co-ops are making steady progress restoring power," a news release said. "As of 1 p.m. ET Sunday, about 87,000 members remain without power. With the ground saturated from heavy rains, heavy trucks have had difficulty accessing damaged infrastructure."

Kentucky crews are being helped by employees of 58 co-ops in Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, the release said: "Because the national network of transmission and distribution infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives is built to federal standards, line crews from any co-op in America can arrive on the scene ready to provide emergency support, secure in their knowledge of the system’s engineering."

“With the help of our fellow co-ops, power restoration work is continuing around the clock.” KAEC President and CEO Chris Perry said in the release. “We are thankful that most homes and businesses were spared damage in this event, but the persistent high winds and hurricane-strength gusts on Friday took a tremendous toll on electric infrastructure.”

The storm that moved through the region lowered barometric pressure at Louisville to 28.85 inches of mercury, or 977 millibars, the lowert ever recorded there. Hurricane-force wind gusts were reported at several locations, and the Lexington airport was knocked out of service.