Much of the damage from the deadly weekend storms is being reported in western and central Kentucky, along the storms’ direct path.
Gov. Andy Beshear reported during a press conference Monday morning that the storms caused “massive damage to homes and businesses,” along with the deaths of four Kentuckians and the critical injury of a fifth.
The deaths include a 67-year-old woman in Mercer County, 62-year-old woman in Hardin County, 48-year-old woman in Hopkins County and a 34-year-old man in Jefferson County.
Louisville police confirmed the 34-year-old man was hit and killed by a tree. Mayor Craig Greenberg shared his condolences on social media.
Louisville, I’m sad to report we’ve had one fatality following the severe weather that just moved through the area and some structural damage reported. Please join me in holding this family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time — may their memory be a blessing.
— Mayor Craig Greenberg (@LouisvilleMayor) May 26, 2024
Beshear said more than a dozen counties and a handful of cities, as well as the entire state of Kentucky, have declared states of emergency in the wake of the storm. Counties to declare so far include Bullitt, Caldwell, Clay, Clinton, Hopkins, Knox, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McLean, Muhlenberg, Simpson, Todd and Trigg. The cities to declare states of emergency include Albany, Cadiz, Dawson Springs, Manchester and Russellville. Beshear also activated the state’s price gouging statute.
He noted that much of the damage and “tough loss of life” came in Kentucky communities that have become familiar with these types of disasters.
“It could have been much worse. The people of Kentucky are very weather aware with everything we've been through,” Beshear said. “These are a lot of the counties that got hit in the December 2021 Tornado, in fact, the same block in Barnsley was hit, and it looks like at least one family that lost their home and the 2021 tornadoes lost their home again.”
Tornado damage from Charleston, KY which is just on the north side of Dawson Springs. @jpetramala pic.twitter.com/zrDt4oTbJA
— WxChasing- Brandon Clement (@bclemms) May 27, 2024
Though the National Weather Service has yet to confirm the number of tornadoes that were generated by the storm, several were reported throughout the evening Sunday. Officials with the National Weather Service’s Paducah office began damage surveys Monday morning along two identified paths, one traveled by a reported long-track tornado that impacted locations more than 70 miles apart and another in southern Illinois, from Goreville to the Lake of Egypt area. NWS also anticipates surveying tornado tracks in Indiana and Missouri.
The longer of the two tornado tracks runs from near Calvert City in Marshall County to Greenville in Muhlenberg County. Beshear said during his press conference that it was on the ground for nearly 40 miles during that stretch, just missing Mayfield and Dawson Springs – two communities that were devastated during the 2021 tornado outbreak.
According to PowerOutages.us, more than 215,000 Kentuckians were without power at the peak of the outages caused by the storm. Beshear said he expects those in bigger Kentucky cities to regain electricity throughout Monday and Tuesday, but that the wait could be longer in Trigg County.
Families who need shelter or aid in the wake of the storms can contact their local county emergency officials or go to a shelter or other point of contact for the state.
Beshear said that resources are available at Crawdad Sizemore Community Center in Clay County and Pennyrile State Resort Park in Hopkins County, where rooms have been made available for survivors in need as they were in the wake of the December 2021 tornado outbreak. Beshear said, at the time of his press conference, that no one had checked in at Pennyrile.
In Louisville, LG&E & KU spokesperson Daniel Lowry said they had brought in an additional 700 line workers and support personnel from across the state to help restore power. Lowry anticipated most homes would be back online by 11 p.m. Wednesday.
On Sunday, organizers announced that the second day of the inaugural Gazebo Festival would be canceled due to severe weather conditions. Louisville rapper Jack Harlow was the headliner for the second day of the festival, and said on Instagram he was “grateful for a flawless first day.”
The safety of our patrons, artists and staff is paramount. Due to continuing hazardous conditions throughout the early afternoon and a second wave of weather expected this evening, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the remainder of Gazebo Festival. pic.twitter.com/t2XvLW9vBO
— Gazebo Fest (@gazebofestival) May 26, 2024
In Southern Indiana, Duke Energy reported more than 140 active outages.
“Crews worked through the night to restore power across the southern portions of the state following two waves of strong storm activity,” according to an update on Duke Energy’s outage map. There is no estimated restoration time available.
Divya Karthikeyan contributed to this reporting.
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