(LEX 18) — Governor Andy Beshear urged Kentuckians to stay off roadways on Monday to give transportation and utility workers the best opportunity to clear roads and restore power before extremely cold temperatures arrive.
"We've had a lot of prep time, but there's still a lot of work left to do, " said Beshear. "The most important thing people can do today is to stay home and to stay safe, to let us do as much work as possible, to let us clear as many roads, to let us treat the roads with salt, to let us deal with the one to three inches of snow that's expected throughout the rest the day, and to let the utility companies restore power to as many people as possible."
"We have about 24 hours before it gets so cold that the salt is not going to work," he added. "So, we need as much time and as much road to do as much work as possible throughout the course of today."
State highway crews have continued to clear roads ranging from wet or slushy along Kentucky’s southern borders to snow-packed along the I-64 central corridor and northern river counties, according to the Transportation Cabinet.
“While we’ve made progress, this storm’s not over, and our hard-working crews remain out in force to keep roads passable for all Kentuckians as we expect more snow today,” said Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray. “They’re doing a great job, and you may see bare pavement, but please don’t let your guard down – it’s icy and slick, and the best way to stay safe is to stay home. If you must be out, make sure to slow down, buckle up and leave a safe space between other vehicles.”
Power restoration is also a challenge, according to the governor. A half-inch of ice can and has brought down tree limbs and power lines.
As of noon on Monday, about 93,400 people were without power, but the number is constantly fluctuating, according to Beshear. He added that local utility companies are working to restore power as quickly as possible. But expected wind gusts of up to 30 mph make repairing utility lines dangerous.
“The bottom line is – we’ve got one day to try to get power back to as many Kentuckians as possible before the wind chill gets down close to zero,” said Gov. Beshear.
"We are hearing from some of the utilities - they expect some people to be without power for a couple of days," he added. "Obviously, we're going to push as hard as we can, and they are, to restore it as quickly as possible. But those without power need to be monitoring it pretty closely and know where that warming center is."
“If you don’t have power by [Monday] – you need to be looking at finding a warming center or location that has power.”
