(WKYT) – The National Weather Service is surveying storm damage in Pulaski County after storm systems moved through the area, causing significant but not catastrophic damage.
Residents are cleaning up and making repairs following Tuesday night’s storms. Gary Whitehead, whose home was damaged, said conditions deteriorated quickly.
“Then all of a sudden it got really hazy you could not see anything outside. I yell at the family to get down and take cover,” Whitehead said.
A large tree beside the Whitehead home lost a limb that crashed into the gutters and took down a support column.
“My roof is kind of bowed, warped. Got the shingles and part of the side of the roof,” Whitehead said.
Power outages, road closures reported
The storms caused power outages measured in the dozens in Pulaski County and several hundred across the South Kentucky RECC service area. A downed power line across Slate Branch Road closed the road for most of Tuesday.
Neighbor George Rebuck also sustained roof damage.
“Luckily had three layers on the roof, only took the first one off the top, no telling what lifting damage it did on top of it. I have been dealing with these stupid Bradford Pears for ten years, the ones behind you, to protect the house,” Rebuck said.
NWS: Storms had ‘a little bit more gusto’
Jane-Marie Wix of the National Weather Service said the storms were not unexpected but intensified more than anticipated. The area was under an “enhanced risk” for activity Tuesday.
“So it wasn’t a surprise that we had storms moving in. We were expecting them to lessen as they went further south. Some of them just had a little bit more gusto,” Wix said.
Officials reported no injuries. The National Weather Service said it hopes to pinpoint the cause of the damage by the end of the day, with early estimates pointing to straight-line winds as the primary factor.