Kentucky crews work to save lives, restore power in wake of deadly, wide-reaching severe weather system

Video note: Despite this article’s time stamp, the above video is the latest forecast from The Weather Authority.

KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — Over the weekend, a deadly severe storm system made its way across the nation,

bringing tornadoes, fire, blinding dust, hail, and rain throughout a vast swath of the U.S. So far, at least 35 deaths nationwide due to the storms have been reported.

Communities across the Bluegrass were hit by consistent heavy rain and high winds on Friday into Sunday morning.

Just before 8 a.m. on Sunday, the Mercer County Fire District posted on Facebook that emergency personnel in the area had been conducting a water rescue.

Around noon on Sunday, members of Powell County Search & Rescue worked through dime-sized hail and rain to help a woman who reportedly fell at Natural Bridge State Park.

The Monticello Police Department posted on Facebook on Sunday morning warning residents about street closures due to high water.

“Please avoid these areas and DO NOT attempt to drive through these flooded areas,” Monticello law enforcement wrote.

According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), 24 roads have been closed across the Commonwealth due to weather hazards. For a full map of Kentucky roads along with their status, visit the KYTC website.

Just before 11 a.m. Sunday, nearly 10,000 Kentucky customers were without power, according to PowerOutage.Us. As of around 5 p.m., crews have worked to reduce that number to nearly 4,600 statewide.

Kentucky Utilities staff urged Kentucky residents who find downed power lines to assume they are energized, stay away from them, and call (800) 981-0600. KU customers can report and track outages through the mobile app and lge-ku.com/storm.