About 26,000 Duke Energy customers across Northern Kentucky remained without power as of 10 p.m. Aug. 11, and the utility warned that some neighborhoods face multi-day outages where crews must rebuild entire sections of the electric system.
The derecho that swept through Greater Cincinnati on Tuesday afternoon initially knocked out power to more than 180,000 Duke Energy customers regionwide. By Wednesday morning, roughly 60,000 had been restored overnight, but more than 121,000 customers across the Tri-State still had no electricity as of 7:20 a.m., according to Duke Energy.
Fallen trees, broken utility poles and downed power lines littered streets across Fort Mitchell, Crestview Hills, Edgewood, Villa Hills, Crescent Springs, Lakeside Park and Fort Wright, according to the NKY Tribune. Tree removal teams worked through the overnight hours, and cleanup was expected to continue Wednesday.
Duke Energy storm director Andy Cassidy said the damage exceeded what the company anticipated. "We've seen an even greater impact and significant damage than anticipated across the region, and another round of severe weather could create additional challenges," Cassidy said.
John Juech, Duke Energy's director of communications, described the storm as a "high-vegetation event" on WLWT's Wednesday morning newscast, meaning large numbers of trees came down on power lines and transmission lines. Crews must first clear the debris, then rebuild the line, a process Juech called complicated.
Bucket truck work was halted Tuesday night when sustained winds exceeded 30 mph, a safety threshold that kept lineworkers on the ground. Duke Energy said it deployed self-healing technology to remotely reroute power around damaged equipment, restoring some customers without a crew physically on site.
Additional severe weather expected into early Wednesday threatened to cause further outages and slow restoration.
Duke Energy said it prioritizes restoring power to hospitals and government buildings before moving into residential neighborhoods. The company said it was fully staffed and deploying additional lineworkers, damage assessors and tree trimmers as road conditions allow.
In nearby Park Hills, resident Alyca Williamson told WCPO on Aug. 12, that tree removal crews had arrived at her property but could not work until Duke Energy cleared the downed power line first. With another storm approaching, she said, "everything is on hold, which is obviously — every step that takes longer is longer until we have power."
What residents should know
- Stay away from downed or sagging power lines and anything touching them.
- Operate generators safely and away from enclosed spaces.
- Treat intersections with nonworking traffic signals as four-way stops.
- Report outages or hazards by calling Duke Energy at 800-543-5599 or texting "OUT" to 57801.
- Check estimated restoration times at duke-energy.com or the Duke Energy Outage Map.
No Kentucky state of emergency has been declared. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency for Ohio on Tuesday as the derecho brought dangerous flooding and damage across that state.
