Kentucky Power Storm Update: Friday, December 25, 2020 – 9:45 a.m.

Kentucky Power Storm Update

Friday, December 25, 2020 – 9:45 a.m.

Summary

Approximately 8,000 Kentucky Power customers are without power Christmas morning after a windy and snowy winter storm moved through eastern Kentucky on Thursday night.  Various parts of the eastern Kentucky territory reported snow fall ranging from four to eight inches and in some areas the snow was wet and heavier than forecasted, which is the type that can wreak havoc on electrical systems.

Storm Response Efforts

Kentucky Power crews and business partners will be working today to get customers restored as quickly as possible. Of the almost 8,000 customers without power, there are nearly 160 separate outage cases to be worked.

Damage assessment is still underway, making estimated times for restoration unavailable until later today. Power restoration is an all-hands-on-deck approach and crews will work safely and as quickly as possible to complete restoration. Speed of restoration could be hampered because of road conditions and crews inability to access areas needing repairs. Kentucky Power works closely with local emergency management teams to address accessibility issues.

Crews are reporting damage that includes a lot of downed wires. Never touch or go near a downed wire.

For everyone’s health and safety with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, please do not approach power company personnel in the field.

Outages

Restoration will be going on throughout the day.  Kentucky Power’s Hazard district is the hardest hit area having more than half of the total outages. Approximately 5000 people in the Perry, Leslie Knott, Letcher and Breathitt counties are affected.

In the Pikeville district, customers in Pike, Johnson, and Floyd counties are also affected with approximately 1,300 without power.

In the Ashland district, customers in Carter and Lawrence counties are also experiencing outages with 1,700 without power.

For More Information

Customers can report outages and check the latest restoration information for their account anytime at kentuckypower.com/outages or by downloading the Kentucky Power mobile app at kentuckypower.com/app. The outage map is updated every 15 minutes. Restoration information is added when known. Click on “View Outage Map” to access the map on a computer, cell phone, or tablet. Customers can report outages online, on their mobile device or to our Customer Operations Center at 1-800-572-1113.

Customers may also get specific information about outages via text message and/or email by subscribing to Kentucky Power outage alerts. To sign up, please visit www.kentuckypower.com/alerts. Information also is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KentuckyPower and on Twitter at twitter.com/KentuckyPower or @KentuckyPower.

Next Update: December 25, 5:30 p.m.