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Hurricane Helene moved into Florida on Thursday, Sept. 26, and proceeded to make its way north over the following days. While Harlan County was not in the direct path of the worst of the storm, high winds and rain caused damage and power outages throughout the county.
Harlan County Judge-Executive Dan Mosley issued a state of emergency proclamation and provided multiple updates on the situation via social media.
Mosley’s update on Monday, Sept. 30, provided information on the status of power outages and other issues Harlan Countians are facing as a result of Helene.
“We are into Day 4 of dealing with the effects of Hurricane Helene,” Mosley said. “Fortunately, continued progress is being made related to cleanup, power restoration, and water restoration.”
According to Mosley, as of 10 a.m. on Monday, there were approximately 683 customers in Harlan County without electricity, which is about 4.5 percent of electric customers in the county.
“This is down from 1,100 in the evening update last night,” Mosley said. “There are still a lot of small outages where broken poles exist, but additional crews have arrived to aid in getting power restored as quickly and safely as possible.”
At one point, there were more than 5,200 customers without power in Harlan County, or approximately 35 percent of all Harlan County electric customers.
Water has also been restored in many areas as a result of electric service now being up and running.
“The electricity restorations last night led to water being restored in many of the areas that were experiencing outages in the Cloverfork, Putney, Crummies, and Cranks areas,” Mosley reported. “Only those in high elevations would be without water now. As tanks replenish, this issue will be resolved.”
Many homes in Harlan County were damaged because of the storm, and one person was injured when a tree fell into her home in the Cawood area.
“We have had reports of several homes damaged,” Mosley said in an early update. “Please keep the lady in your prayers who was injured from a tree falling through her mobile home this morning in the Cawood community.”
The high winds and rain resulted in many trees being blown down all across Harlan County, leaving residents to deal with the debris.
“If you have fallen trees/debris that you need to dispose of you can move that debris to the side of the county road or highway and contact Harlan County Road Department at 573-6536 to schedule a time for that to be picked up,” said Mosley.