Downed trees cause power outages

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Kentucky Utility customers on Senator Lane in London were among hundreds of energy customers left in the dark on Friday, Feb. 1. Photo by Magen McCrarey

February 4, 2013

Downed trees cause power outages

By Magen McCrarey Staff Writer The Sentinel-Echo Mon Feb 04, 2013, 01:43 PM EST

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — At 12:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 1, Brent Jackson’s television abruptly went black, as did the rest of his home in the London city limits.

“That’s how we knew that the power had gone out,” he said.

Jackson wasn’t alone. He was one of 1,010 Kentucky Utilities (KU) customers in London without power for approximately nine hours Friday morning. KU stated the power loss was caused both by a downed fir tree that fell on a power line and the sustained winds that occurred during prior days.

Temperatures at the time of the outage were in the lower 20s and dropped into the teens throughout the early morning hours.

“I had a wood burning stove. I got the kids and we all piled in our bed and I went and made sure the fire was still growing. We put more clothes on and went back to bed,” Jackson said.

Overnight, his household temperature fell from 68 degrees to below 53. He kept the wood burning stove ablaze throughout the morning, and when he left for work at 7:15 a.m., his home was still in darkness. With the sun up, Jackson felt his family could remain in the home and was confident the power wouldn’t be out for much longer.

KU estimated it would take until 11:30 a.m. to restore power to 100 percent of its customers, but crews battled frigid winds and temperatures and made their goal by 9:30 a.m.

In addition to power outages in the city, outages were scattered throughout the southwestern region of Laurel County.

Karen Combs, director of public relations at Jackson Energy, reported 26 customers on Dees Road were without power from 1 a.m. to 4 p.m., and seven customers were without power on Dog Branch Road from 1:45 a.m. to 7 a.m. Outages were also caused by fallen trees.

Despite the early hour and inclement weather, Combs said crews responded quickly and had all customers up and running by 7 a.m.

“We are on call 24 hours a day. This is what our guys train for,” Combs added.

To stay up to date on KU power outages, visit www.lge-ku.com. To report an outage, call 1-800-981-0600.

To find out more about Jackson Energy outages, visit www.jacksonenergy.com or call 1-800-262-7480 to report an outage.

mmccrarey@sentinel-echo.com

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