On Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, the skies in Grayson County were intermittently lit up with blue blazes of light as possibly dozens of transformers blew, leaving thousands of residents in the dark and reaching for extra blankets.
At the peak of the winter storm that moved through the region, nearly 4,000 households in Grayson County were without power. As of this writing (at 4:41 a.m.), 3,225 homes are without power in the county.
The storm wet roadways, with ice forming on everything above ground. The weight of the ice slowly and meticulously bent large trees and branches downward, and onto power, telephone and cable lines.
The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, Leitchfield Police Department, Leitchfield Public Works, state road workers, and several county volunteer fire departments were extremely busy, beginning at about 9:30, clearing roadways of downed trees, large branches and alerting motorists of blocked roadways and downed power, telephone and cable lines.
At about 10:00, Leitchfield firefighter Andrew Whobrey and Public Works Director Sheila Puckett responded to the 500 block of Cave Mill Road as trees and utility lines were down and blocking the roadway. Whobrey cleared the debris from the road, and also cleared tree limbs and downed lines from at least one driveway so the homeowner could enter their property. According to the person who reported the issue, the downed power lines caught a tree on fire, but the flames were out when first responders arrived.
Leitchfield Police Department Sgt. Robert Jackson alerted Central Dispatch of a downed tree partially blocking the 10000 block of Peonia Road. Jackson arranged for a friend to cut the tree up and remove it from the roadway; a task completed by about 10:45.
At approximately 11:00, and almost simultaneously, a snapped power line fell across the 3000 block of Anneta Road, while a large tree fell under the weight of ice and took a telephone line with it in the 8000 block of Peonia Road.
The calls to Central Dispatch were unwavering for nearly four hours, as residents and first responders reported damage and impassable roadways.
In Clarkson, a semi-truck driver snagged a low-hanging power line, entangling the line in the machinations of the semi. The incident occurred on Millerstown Street, in front of Clarkson Elementary School, at about 12:45 Thursday morning. About an hour later, a huge tree fell across Peonia Road near Days Pro Shop.
In the early morning hours, Bear Creek Road became impassable due to downed trees, but the road has since been cleared. Boston Hill Road, though, remains blocked by a tree (as of early Thursday morning).
State road workers and others are working in several parts of the county clearing trees off roadways, as dozens of county and city roads have trees blocking all or parts of the road, with some roads having power and other types of lines down.
Use caution while traveling, as hundreds of roadside trees have bent and are partially blocking roads, and be aware of utility and other workers who are laboring to clear roadways.
Perhaps miraculously, no injuries have been reported.
(Headline photo: Downed tree on top of power line on South Patterson Street in Clarkson)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
