A winter storm has left thousands without power in West Virginia and Kentucky, with over 35,000 outages reported in the state of West Virginia alone. The severe weather has caused widespread disruptions, including road closures and flight cancellations.
As of Monday morning, more than 46,000 Appalachian Power customers were experiencing outages in West Virginia, with the most affected areas being Kanawha County, Lincoln County, and Wayne County. In eastern Kentucky, over 10,000 AEP customers remained without power, with Johnson County leading the way with nearly 2,000 outages.
The outages come as crews from seven states work to restore power, with a focus on essential public safety facilities like hospitals, 911 call centers, water treatment plants, and first responder facilities. The utility said it was working to restore large outages in small groups to avoid overloading lines.
Thousands of personnel from multiple states have faced hazardous weather and road conditions, impacting the workload. Despite the challenges, officials are urging residents to stay off the roads if possible and to check on vulnerable neighbors.
The situation is expected to continue evolving throughout the day, with updates provided by utility companies and local authorities.
Source: https://wchstv.com/news/local/thousands-without-power-in-west-virginia-ky-as-temperatures-plummet-during-winter-storm