LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A powerful severe weather system rolling through Kentuckiana on Friday has cause numerous problems across the state.
In Kentucky, nearly a quarter of a million customers are without power, according to poweroutage.us.
LG&E spokesperson Liz Pratt said this is a significant power outage for Louisville and LG&E, and said in the last 20 years, this ranks as the third most significant event.
As of Saturday around 11:00 a.m., around 396,517 Kentuckians are without power, according to Gov. Andy Beshear. 79,369 outages were reported to LG&E in the Louisville-area.
Around 1,400 wires are down in Jefferson County, and LG&E has 450 crews out in the community she said. Restoration will involve not only putting wires back up, but repairing some broken power poles.
She added crews from other states are coming to Louisville and the LG&E/KU service area to help.
Pratt said LG&E's focus is on protecting the public and urged anyone who sees a downed wire to call them at 502-589-1444.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg later declared a state of emergency Friday. He said this would help emergency services and first responders, and allow Metro Government "to access potentially available funding to assist in recovering from these severe weather events."
"Again, I encourage everyone in our community to exercise extreme caution this evening, and in the coming days – do not drive through standing water, do not approach downed power lines, or do anything that would put the lives of anyone at risk," he said.
PHOTOS | Storm damage across Kentuckiana from March 3 storm
Western Kentucky is seeing the most power outages, according to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. He said utility workers from other states are heading there to restore power as quickly as possible.
The majority of these power outages are likely due to high wind and fallen trees.
It is unknown at this time how long it will be before power is fully restored everywhere.
Thunderstorms in Kentuckiana are producing up to 80 mph winds.
Due to the severe flash flooding and strong wind gusts, Beshear has issued a state of emergency to prepare state resources to help residents impacted by the storms.
He said on social media two tornadoes have been confirmed in McCracken and Christian Counties.
Numerous other counties in Kentucky and southern Indiana were under a tornado watch for a majority of the day Friday.
We will update this story with more information as the storm progresses.
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