Kentuckians helping in Beryl’s aftermath

KENTUCKY (WKYT) – In Kentucky, we are no stranger to cleaning up after a storm but this week, Kentuckians are headed to Texas to help with relief in the wake of Hurricane Beryl’s damage.

“It means a lot to help. You know it matters to us to help other utilities in other states and other people,” said Daniel Lowry with Kentucky Utilities.

Kentucky Utilities is one of the companies within the state sending crews and resources down to the Houston and Galveston area due to over two million people being without power Tuesday morning.

”We are sending some of our contract crews, we have got about 65 of our line technicians that are contractors and are going to help, and about 75 contract crews that do tree-trimming work,” Lowry explained.

Other groups from our area sending help are the Lexington-based Emergency Disaster Services, who were just aiding the Houston area in late May due to a wind event, and the Davis H. Elliot Utility company who will aid with emergency restoration.

“When you have widespread damage, when you have a lot of trees down and limbs down, and poles down, it takes a lot of time obviously to repair that infrastructure, it can take three to four hours just to set one pole,”

And with many crews having to go house to house to restore power, some regions are expected to be out of power for days or even weeks. And with a heat advisory out for the area – the line technicians will need to focus on their own safety as they work. “It’s a critical part of what we do. And we try to help in areas where we can. And then when have trouble, other utilities do the same for us. We know this area really needs it right now, and if we were in that situation, they would help us out too”

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