PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A summer-like squall blew through Eastern Kentucky Friday afternoon, sending trees and branches down and taking power lines with them.
The storm brought with it a powerful front of straight-line winds as it moved into the region. Early reports had a top wind gust of more than 57 mph in Morgan County. Statistics were not immediately available further east.
Crews across Pike and Floyd counties were working to remove trees from roadways immediately after winds died down.
Kentucky Power was reporting more than 19,000 customers without power across Eastern Kentucky just before 3 p.m. That number included nearly 5,600 around South Williamson, more than 3,200 around Prestonsburg, more than 900 in the Pikeville area, and nearly 600 around Phelps.
Big Sandy RECC was reporting more than 4,200 outages shortly after the storm. The bulk of those were in Johnson County, with more than 2,300, and Floyd County, with more than 1,400.
Licking Valley RECC more than 1,400 customers without power, mostly in Magoffin and Morgan counties.
