Strong winds following Friday night's storm cause damage throughout parts of the Louisville

May 31, 2023

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Strong winds knocked down trees and caused power outages in the metro. Now, neighbors say they have a lot of cleanup to do after the storm.“I heard glass breaking, and we searched the house and a big branch had hit the house and gone through the window upstairs,” said Steven Crump.Crump was among those left to clean up the mess after storms ripped through the metro Friday night. He lives in Hurstbourne Acres, and neighbors there say the damage was extensive.“The wind gusts came out of nowhere. It happened very fast and me and my family were looking out the window, and we saw all these trees around here blowing pretty hard,” said Jeremy Chandler.In the Highview neighborhood, trees fell on power lines and cars.

On Applegate Lane, a tree came crashing down on an LMPD cruiser. The officer was taken to the hospital but released later on Friday night.

Metro councilman Jeff Hudson, who spent Saturday surveying the damage, says the recovery has been a community effort. “I want to thank LG&E and public works and all the hard work it takes to get everybody back whole again,” said Hudson. LG&E and KU said they had about 300 crews working to restore power, including help from out of state. They’re repairing broken poles and roughly 200 down wires.

They say about 50,000 people were impacted by the storm, with a majority of the outages in Jefferson County. Those near Oxmoor Country Club reported going for hours without electricity.“It's hot inside, no air-conditioning, and I'm afraid to open the refrigerator. I opened it just briefly this morning, but I don't know how long the power will be out,” said Peggy Schoenhoff.

LG&E and KU said they expect a bulk of customers' power to be restored by Sunday night, but they still expect some outages on Monday. They hope people will remain patient as they work to restore power.