Storms Cause Damage, Outages, Blocked Roads

Severe thunderstorms with extremely strong winds and hail on Friday afternoon blocked traffic on several roads, caused property damage, and widespread power outages. 

Storms marched across Missouri early in the afternoon, then moved through Ballard County and into McCracken County between 5:00 - 5:30 pm, and continued eastward through the lakes area.

At least two fatalities have been reported from the storms. One occurred in southern Illinois when a tree fell on a car near Ullin in Pulaski County. The second happened earlier in the day when a tree fell on a boat in the Current River area in Missouri.

Kentucky State Police at Post 1 in Mayfield say only minor injuries were reported in their area. Troopers say structure damage was reported in Carlisle, Graves, McCracken and Trigg Counties, with heavies damage in the Pryorsburg area in Graves County and Cadiz in Trigg County. In Marshall County, police say piers broke loose at Kentucky Dam Village Marina. One boat was reported as capsized, but State Police did not confirm that incident. 

Winds estimated over 70 mph broke out windows in cars and stores in Cape Girardeau.

High straight-line winds were apparently strong enough to overturn a semi in the eastbound lanes of the I-24 Ohio River bridge about 5 pm. One lane was kept open, but traffic backed up for at least 10 miles into southern Illinois. At 8:30 pm, both lanes were closed so the truck could be removed. One lane reopened about 9:15 pm, and both lanes were open by 10 pm

Another semi was blown over in Marshall County near Calvert City at the 27 mile marker of I-24. That accident was cleared about 8:30, and normal traffic flow has resumed.

Paducah's downtown business loop is blocked at the 3rd Street intersection with Jefferson Street due to partially collapsed building. 

The National Weather Service reported 1 inch hail in La Center at 4:58, 57 mph wind in West Paducah at 5:16, and several trees down in Lone Oak at 5:22 pm. Benton reported 70 mph wind and golf ball sized hail at 5:54 pm, siding blowing off homes at 5:55 pm in Hardin, 75 mph wind in Kirksey at 6:04 pm, and 65 mph wind at Golden Pond at 6:10 pm. 

Trees and utility lines were reported down on state and US highways and on city streets throughout western Kentucky.

Several utilities experienced extensive power outages. By 10 pm, West Kentucky Rural Electric reports 190 outages with almost 12,000 customers affected. Gibson Electric reports 59 outages leaving over 2,600 without power. Mayfield Electric had 5 outages affecting over 700 customers. Jackson Purchase Energy had 117 outages affecting about 3,500 customers. Paducah Power System initially had over 6,100 customers without electricity, but by 10 pm that number was down to 581. 

Large portions of the city of Metropolis also experienced outages after the storms.

Power outages have effected several traffic signals at intersections in Paducah, and at other locations across the area. Anyone approaching an intersection where a traffic signal is not working should treat it as a four-way stop.

Andrea Underwood with Paducah Power said if customers have damage to their meter box or weatherhead they should contact an electrician. Repairs will have to be made and an inspection completed before utilities can restore power. She added that drivers who encounter traffic signals that have electricity but are not functioning properly should contact law enforcement or the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Georgeann Lookofsky with WKRECC said crews will be working through the night and into Saturday to restore power. She reminded customers to turn off air conditioners, appliances and most lights until power is restored. She also urged anyone with a freezer to avoid opening it, since most of them can keep food frozen and safe for 1-2 days if cold air isn't allowed to escape.