Five days after remnants of Hurricane Helene swept through the region, many people were still without electricity. High winds from Friday’s storm downed trees which took out power lines in several areas of the county. Crews have been working to restore electricity to more than 6,000 customers and as of Tuesday afternoon, around 600 people were left without power.
Rowan County Judge Executive Harry Clark said Kentucky Power alone has repaired hundreds of broken poles, cross arms, and spans of wire.
“So, it’s a process. Some of them are very remote, you know, trees fall - power comes through the region through different stretches of just pure woods, nothing else around them - and when the tree falls on it, they've got to figure out a way to get to it. So, they've been working hard. The power companies are working hard, trying to get this restored,” said Clark.
Clark added some people may not realize how a prolonged lack of electricity can cause a variety of issues for residents of hard-hit areas. One of these issues is in the food supply.
“People lost a lot of food. We get calls, they lost their food in their freezer that they had stored. So, there’s a back-end cost to this that I think people are starting to realize now that a lot of them are working their way out,” said Clark.
In addition to Kentucky Power, Clark Energy, Fleming-Mason, Licking Valley, Grayson RECC, and Kentucky Utilities all had customers without electricity at some point after Friday’s high winds.
Rowan County schools are out this week for fall break. Clark said all roads are back open and crews will be cleaning remaining debris before buses get back on the roads.
Clark encouraged people to help their neighbors whenever they can. He added relief efforts are in the works for eastern Kentuckians to help states ravaged by the storm, like North Carolina.