UPDATED: More than 140,000 KY customers without power. Five dead in traffic accidents.
At least five people died in weather-related traffic accidents and more than 140,000 Kentucky customers were without power late Monday night after a winter storm packing sleet, rain and snow socked much of Central and Eastern Kentucky.
Power outages were reported across the state beginning early Monday evening.
As of 10:30 p.m Monday, more than 144,048 Kentucky customers were without power across the state, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks approximately 2 million Kentucky power customers. That’s more than triple the number of customers without power reported three hours earlier. At 5:30 p.m. the number of households and businesses without power was 35,082.
Much of those power outages were concentrated in Southern and Eastern Kentucky. Boyd, Carter and Elliott counties were reporting widespread power outages in an area of Eastern Kentucky hit hard by last week’s ice storm.
Other counties reporting lots of customers without power include Rockcastle, Jackson, McCreary, Laurel, Clay, Owsley and Leslie counties.
Warren County also reported widespread power outages with more than 10,000 customers without power there after 10:30 p.m.
Kentucky Utilities, which serves Fayette County and much of Central Kentucky, reported a little more than 6,749 customers without power as of 10:30 p.m.
In Fayette County, less than five customers were without power as of 10:30 p.m., according to KU’s website.
Kentucky Power, which serves counties in Eastern and Central Kentucky hit hard by the storm, reported more than 42,599 customers without power as of 10 p.m.
That’s nearly double the number of customers who lost power during an ice storm last week.
Kentucky Power officials said earlier Monday the Feb. 11 winter storm knocked out power to 25,000 customers in its service area. Roughly 20 percent of those customers had not had power restored by Monday.
Meanwhile, poor road conditions and bad weather contributed to several fatal accidents, killing five people.
Kentucky State Police said late Monday two fatal accidents were on the state’s major interstates. The third fatal accident, which killed two people, was in Trimble County. A fourth happened in Marshall County on Interstate 24 on Monday afternoon.
Nathan T.J. Rubalcava of Ball Ground, Georgia was operating a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta north on Interstate 75 when he lost control of his vehicle and collided with a tractor trailer. The accident happened in Rockcastle County near mile marker 56 on Monday. Rubalcava was pronounced dead at the scene..
Police believe icy, hazardous road conditions contributed to the fatal accident.
Also on Monday, Kentucky State Police were investigating a fatal accident on Interstate 64 in Carter County. Angel Johnson, 43, was traveling westbound on I-64 when she lost control and entered the left shoulder, eventually crossing into the other lane of traffic. Johnson’s vehicle was struck by a tractor trailer, according to police. Johnson, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident happened shortly after 1 p.m.
In Milton, police were called after a vehicle was reported upside down in a body of water off of Sandhill Road on Sunday morning.
Police believe the Toyota Scion was traveling down Sandhill when the driver of the vehicle lost control due to icy road conditions. The vehicle left the roadway and overturned before landing in the water, police said.
Kristen Croxton, 34, from Madison, Ind., and Woody Brewer, 63, also from Madison, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
A 77-year-old man from Englewood, Colo., was killed in Marshall County on I-24 Monday afternoon.
Adrian A. Pyle , was traveling west on I-24, operating a 1994 Mercedes Benz when he struck the guardrail on the north side of the roadway and later re-entered the roadway. The driver of a semi truck saw Pyle on the side of the road and attempted to stop to help him. Due to icy road conditions, the tractor trailer was unable to stop and collided with Pyle’s car, police said.
Pyle was taken to the Marshall County Hospital where he died, Kentucky State Police said.
Sections of I-75 in Southern Kentucky were shut down multiple times Monday evening due to multiple accidents, according to Kentucky emergency management officials.
Interstate 65 in Hart County was also shut down around 8 p.m. because of two accidents involving tractor trailers, according to Kentucky transportation officials.
Kentucky State Police advised all Kentucky residents to avoid travel if possible. Earlier Monday, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett said, “literally every single county in Kentucky” is under a watch or warning.
The ice storm warning was in effect until 1 p.m. Tuesday and also included portions of east-central, northeast, south-central and southeast Kentucky, according to the weather service.
The expanded ice storm warning area “increases the potential for widespread power outages across areas of central and Eastern Kentucky. It’s a shutdown snowstorm for the rest of the state,” according to Chris Bailey, chief meteorologist for WKYT.
Snow and sleet were expected to accumulate in other parts of the state into Tuesday, according to the weather service. Accumulations of up to 12 inches were expected in the western part of the state, including Mayfield, Madisonville and Paducah.
Lexington was expected to get 1 to 2 inches of additional snow. Eastern Kentucky was expected to get 1 to 2 inches or less, according to the weather service.
The snow was the least of the concerns in Lexington and Eastern Kentucky. Lexington could get between one-quarter and three-quarters of an inch of ice, with the possibility for 1 inch of sleet, Bailey said. In Eastern Kentucky, ice accumulations of two-tenths of an inch to a half-inch were expected before snow finished off the storm, according to the weather service’s Jackson office.
The snow was expected to taper off and move to the northeast Tuesday morning after 1 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s during the day Tuesday and into the teens or even single digits Tuesday night, with a wind chill near zero degrees.
The changing weather conditions created challenges for city and state road crews.
“As soon as the plow truck moves through the roadway ... the roadway is covered up again,” said Kentucky Transportation Secretary Jim Gray Monday. He added that maintenance trucks in every transportation district across the state were working on treating roads. Gray said there were three incidents in Perry County of maintenance trucks sliding off the road.
Gov. Andy Beshear, Gray and state Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett urged residents to stay home if possible. If fewer cars are on the road, salt trucks and other maintenance vehicles can help get the roads cleared more quickly, Beshear said.
The Kentucky National Guard was set to help respond to emergencies, Beshear and other state officials said.
The National Guard was going door to door in some remote areas near Ashland to check on people who have lost power, Beshear said. National Guard members will provide transportation to heating centers if needed.
In addition, the National Guard can assist stranded motorists, clear roads and assist relief efforts, Dossett said.
Lexington declares snow emergency as weather poses hazards
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton declared a level one snow emergency. Vehicles parked on city snow routes after 6 p.m. would be towed.
“We need to be able to plow snow routes, and that requires that parked vehicles be moved,” Gorton said in a statement.
The affected roads are marked with “snow emergency route” street signs, according to the city. The snow emergency is in effect until Gorton lifts it, the city said.
Warming shelters opened at 9 a.m. Monday at the Dunbar Center and the Lexington Senior Center.
A lot of tree debris was expected as additional ice weighs down branches, according to the city. Crews will first clear streets, then sidewalks of limbs. Residents can stack debris from their yards between the sidewalk and the curb, but it will not be removed immediately.
The streets and roads department pretreated roads starting at 8 p.m. Sunday before periods of overnight snow, according to Director Rob Allen.
“It really did help us,” Allen said Monday morning. “The morning commute was as good as could be.”
The Lexington Police Department responded to nine non-injury accidents and assisted 16 motorists between midnight and 11 a.m. Monday, according to the city. Roads didn’t seem to be busy, Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said Monday afternoon.
Lexington Fire Chief Jason Wells said the Lexington Fire Department responded to more than 60 incidents since Sunday night. One was a structure fire caused by someone trying to use an alternate heating source, Wells said.
Third wave of winter weather expected in Kentucky
The latest round of snow and ice is part of a second wave of winter weather to move through the state. Dossett described it as a “massive” and “very dangerous” storm system. The first wave hit late last week, knocking out power to residents in several counties.
“What we’re facing is three winter storms in seven days,” Gray said.
The third storm is expected Wednesday into Thursday. More sleet, snow and freezing rain were expected across Kentucky, Dossett said. Accumulations were likely to be smaller, but ice was expected to build up in the southeastern region, he said.
Universities close in-person classes Tuesday
The University of Kentucky canceled in-person classes Tuesday and closed the COVID-19 vaccination site. Online classes continued as scheduled unless professors announced otherwise.
Only Plan B designated employees were asked to report to work on campus as normal.
COVID-19 testing at Kroger Field and Eastern State Hospital and student testing sites at Kroger Field, K Lair and Gatton Student Center were closed, the university said.
Eastern Kentucky University moved all its classes to virtual instruction for Tuesday, according to an announcement from the school Monday afternoon.
Fayette County Public Schools canceled in-person instruction scheduled to start Tuesday for kindergarten through second grade. NTI classes were also canceled for students who weren’t scheduled to have in-person classes.
The city also canceled all trash pick for Tuesday. A make-up day had not yet been scheduled. The city also closed all offices on Tuesday except for essential personnel. All Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council meetings on Tuesday have also been canceled.
UK students organize snowball fight
But many saw Monday’s winter weather as a chance to get outside and play.
UK students organized a massive snow ball fight on the grounds of the W.T. Young library on Monday night, according to the Kentucky Kernel, the UK student newspaper.
The snowball fight was organized over an app. As of 7:15 p.m., more than 500 students had shown up in the bowl on the library’s front lawn, the paper reported. Makeshift sleds —including kayaks —were used to sled down the hills surrounding the library.
This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 12:32 PM.