Photo from Debbie Parker
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An all too familiar sight for Kanawha County residents this June was seen again Wednesday night into Thursday.
Severe storms rolled through the area late Wednesday causing downed power lines and trees, resulting in thousands of power outages. As of midday Thursday, more than 6,000 Appalachian Power customers were without service in Kanawha County. More than 20,000 Appalachian Power outages were reported statewide as of midday Thursday.
In recent weeks, several storms have come through the Kanawha County area and knocked out power for days at a time.
“There are usually two to three people in a household that are customers. That’s a lot of people that do not have electric service. Some of them probably go it restored in the last few days and now they are out again,” CW Sigman, Director of Emergency Management for Kanawha County told 580-WCHS.
Sigman said almost every 911 call from this storm was reports of trees down onto power lines. He said no one was hurt but there was a rescue of a hiker in Kanawha State Forest who was out hiking when storms hit the area.
Francis Kredensor, NWS Charleston Meteorologist told 580-WCHS that damage reports in Kanawha County would indicate that winds were above 50mph in spots. He said a cold front coming into the Kanawha Valley from the north on Wednesday evening enhanced the storm’s potential.
“We’re always going to get thunderstorms but in terms of these severe storms, lately we’ve been having this abnormally warm and humid air that provides extra fuel and allows the storms to get strong,” Kredensor said.
Kredensor noted that the mid-90 temperatures seen in Charleston this week and the previous few weeks are about 10 degrees above average for late June in Charleston.
Appalachian Power crews are out assessing the damage and fixing lines Thursday and there is not a firm timeframe for when all power may be restored.