ASHLAND —
Strong thunderstorms packing winds in excess of 70 mph plowed through the Tri-State on Friday evening, leaving a path of damage stretching through all three states.
Thousands were without power and workers scrambled to remove trees and downed power lines from roadways late into the night. Parts of U.S. 60 in Ashland and U.S. 23 in Greenup County near South Portsmouth were temporarily closed immediately after the storm.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet reported the following road closures: Ky. 168, Ky. 3294, in Boyd County and Ky. 2, Ky. 503 and Ky. 750 in Greenup County. Near Russell, U.S. 23 was closed in both directions. Officials said the roadway could remain closed for several hours or possibly overnight due to multiple utility poles down. All U.S. 23 traffic was being detoured through Flatwoods via Ky. 207 and Ky. 693 (Diederich Boulevard).
Emergency officials were advising to remain watchful for debris on those routes and refrain from non-essential travel.
At press time, Kentucky Power was reporting more than 33,000 customers without power in northeastern Kentucky. About half were located in Boyd County while close to 10,000 in Greenup County were without power.
About 65 percent of the customers in Boyd and Greenup County were affected and 42 percent of customers in Carter County were in the dark.
Despite the large number of fallen trees and downed utility lines, including some on houses, dispatchers in Boyd, Carter and Greenup reported no serious injuries. The roof of Bluestreak Truck Sales in Westwood was blown off and landed in the middle of Ky. 168. Officials said damage estimates are not expected to meet the threshold for a disaster declaration.
A number of large trees in Ashland’s Central Park toppled and dozens of limbs were down or dangling precariously from the canopy. The damage forced Summer Motion officials to delay the opening of festivities inside the park until noon.
Brent Webster, the Westwood Volunteer Fire Department Chief and Ashland-Boyd County Office of Emergency Management director, described the storm as “scary.”
“It’s the closest I’ve ever seen to a tornado. I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said. The straight line winds snapped trees and branches, but the sky, he said, was the most disturbing.
“It was almost brown. It looked like something you see in a movie — like from the ‘Wizard of Oz,’” he said. Webster said he set off the Westwood’s fire sirens in order to alert residents of the approaching storm. He encouraged them to sign up for Boyd County 911 emergency notifications via Nixel Alerts at Nixel.com.
Greenup Emergency Management Director Dennis Bass echoed that sentiment. His county also has a Nixel alert system and he encouraged residents to sign up.
Simone Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston, W.Va., said similar storms could pass through the region again tonight following what is expected to be another sweltering day with temperatures soaring above 100. Heat advisories have been issued for Saturday, she said, noting the heat index topped 111 in Huntington, W.Va., on Friday.
She said, “strong dynamics in the atmosphere,” could again create strom storms with high velocity winds in the evening hours Saturday. “Winds will be our primary concern,” she said, advising residents to “be vigilant” in regards to storms.
CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
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