HEAVY STORMS WALLOP LAWRENCE COUNTY; BRIEF TORNADO WARNING STRIKES FEAR IN ENTIRE COUNTY, OSBORNE DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY…
WEST VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS SEES SOME OF THE WORST FLOODING IN 155 YEARS
Lawrence county went through a grand finale after three days of high winds, numerous heavy rainstorms, and tennis ball sized hail along the northern county borders. On Thursday, a maelstrom of action that saw numerous rainstorms from sunrise throughout the afternoon then exploded into crisis mode when a tornado warning was issued at 2:45 PM. The tornado warning was followed by a 4 PM warning for severe thunderstorms for Northern Lawrence County.
The National Weather Service canceled most warnings only to have a monsoon erupt over the Louisa area, that ended with those storm systems exiting toward Southern Elliot County and Western Johnson Co.
Several more cloudburst rain storms continued for hours afterward leaving high water, fallen trees, mudslides and power outages. At one point, 2000 people in Lawrence County alone were without electricity. There were three rescues of individuals trapped in their vehicles on Two Mile Crk. Rd. , Rt. 32 in the Cyrus Construction area, and highway 2565, South of highway 644.
Lawrence County Judge Executive John Osborne issued a State of Emergency declaration on Friday night iaskin for the county to qualify for federal aid to clear out the storm damage.
“…Due to the storms that impacted both the City of Louisa and Lawrence County from Tuesday through Thursday we declared a State of Emergency late last night for the entire county. By doing so this allows Federal funding to become available to our county in the event both the county and state meet the requirements of a Federal Declaration.
I’ve spent the day performing damage assessments across the county and have submit our initial damage assessment report to the state. I will be submitting additional required paperwork this weekend to the Kentucky Office of Emergency Management. If the minimums are met then another round of assessments will take place to verify what I have found, and to further determine if enough damage was caused to warrant a Federal Declaration. This process will take several days and I’ll continue to provide additional updates throughout the process.”
In bordering West Virginia, things were much worse. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared 44 out of 55 counties a state of emergency, with some areas getting up to 10 inches of rain yesterday alone. Several cities in Central West Virginia had the highest flood stages in the past 130 to 155 years.
In West Virginia there were 9 to 10 inches of rain down upon parts trapping 500 people in a shopping center in Elkview,( which is about 15 miles north east of Charleston) when a culvert bridge washed out. People had to be plucked off of rooftops or rescued from upper stories of their homes as the water quickly rose. At least four people died, including an eight-year-old boy who is swift away by Swiftwater, officials were looking for another young boy who is also Swift away in a different county said authorities and Governor Earl Ray Tomlin’s spokesman. Unlike Lawrence County they had tens of thousands of people without power. Although some areas were evacuated before or during the storm, the governors spokesman said other people had to be rescued. Kanawha county emergency officials said there were at least 70 water rescues.
Kentucky Power spokesperson Allison Barker released the following report Saturday (today) morning:
Kentucky Power Storm Update
Saturday, June 25, 2016 – 9 a.m.
Summary
Kentucky Power has restored power to about 93 percent of nearly 19,000 customers who lost service after multiple bands of strong thunderstorms with flooding rains moved through Kentucky Power’s service territory on Thursday. The storms damaged and knocked down multiple poles and spans of wire.
Weather
Forecasts through Sunday call for warmer, dryer conditions with a 30 percent chance of rain through Sunday. Temperatures will be in the high 80s to low 90s for the weekend. The break in the weather will aid restoration efforts.
Storm Response Efforts
About 280 Kentucky Power employees and contractors are responding to hazards and outages. About 100 forestry contract workers also are out removing fallen trees and debris. Crews are working to replace 14 remaining broken poles, most of which will require time-consuming manual replacement before power can be fully restored.
Outages
As of 9 a.m., power had been restored to about 17,600 Kentucky Power customers. About 1,400 customers remain without electricity. Counties with more than 100 customers remaining without service include Breathitt (124), Floyd (115), Martin (519) and Pike (644). Additional scattered outages affecting fewer than 100 customers are scattered across other counties and in more isolated areas. South Williamson area customers should have service by 4 p.m. Saturday. Most other customers should have power restored by midnight Saturday.
A snapshot view of current outages affecting 100 customers or more is available anytime at www.kentuckypower.com. Outages affected fewer than 100 customers do not appear on the map but will be addressed as soon as possible. Go to the Outages and Problems section of the site and click “View Outage Map.” Customers can report outages online or to our Customer Solutions Center at 1-800-572-1113.
For More Information
This update provides a broad overview of the company’s restoration efforts. Customers can get specific information about the outages affecting their accounts 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.
Next Update: Updates will be provided as conditions warrant.
LOCAL FLOODING (You can see numerous pics on FB)
OLD LICK CREEK ROAD LOUISA
KY 201 JUST SOUTH OF KY 1 IN THE WEBBVILLE AREA. (Right) ISSAC PARK ROAD & KY 32 SIDE NEAR ISAAC PARK ROAD AREA
US 23 SIDE OF ISAAC PARK ROAD
DEEPHOLE BRANCH ROAD AREA NEXT TO YATESVILLE DAM & MARINA. ESTIMATED SIX TO SEVEN FEET DEEP OF FLOOD WATER.
RAINFALL TOTAL FOR TRI-STATE REGION FROM 3 A.M. JUNE 23 TO 3 A.M. JUNE 24. ALL OF LAWRENCE COUNTY GOT AT LEAST THREE INCHES WITH WEBBVILE TO CARTER COUNTY LINE GETTING UP TO 5 INCHES. HOWEVER, AREAS NORTH AND EAST OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA RECEIVED UP TO 10 INCHES, WHERE THE CITY OF CLAY, WEST VIRGINIA GOT ITS HIGHEST FLOOD STAGE SINCE 1861!!