Severe storms tore through Boone County on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 11, knocking out power to at least 26,000 Northern Kentucky customers and forcing CVG Airport in Hebron into a shelter-in-place as tornado sirens blared across the region.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for Boone, Kenton, Gallatin and Pendleton counties, lasting until approximately 4:15 p.m., according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Radar indicated rotation in a storm cell moving southeast at 45 mph. Passengers at CVG were stranded inside the terminal while the tornado-warned storm passed overhead.
The Duke Energy outage map showed roughly 13,000 customers without electricity just east of Erlanger and another 10,000 south of Alexandria. About 30,000 residents across Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties lost power Tuesday night, according to LINK nky.
The storm system left more than 180,000 Duke Energy customers without electricity along a 70-mile corridor stretching from southeastern Indiana to southwestern Ohio, according to a Duke Energy press release. Most outages began around 3 p.m. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, about 134,000 customers in southwest Ohio and 26,000 in Northern Kentucky remained without electricity.
Tuesday's storm dwarfed the July 27 system that left 212 Kentucky customers without power.
Duke Energy storm director Andy Cassidy said the damage exceeded what the company had prepared for, warning customers to brace for extended outages where crews must rebuild sections of the electrical system. Fallen trees, broken utility poles and damaged equipment slowed restoration work Tuesday night, and crews cannot operate bucket trucks when winds top 30 mph.
"We've seen an even greater impact and significant damage than anticipated across the region, and another round of severe weather could create additional challenges," Cassidy said in the company's statement.
Damage was widespread across Kenton and Campbell counties, with trees down in Newport, Park Hills, Covington, Southgate and Villa Hills. On Amsterdam Road in Park Hills, a tree crashed onto a power line and destroyed a family's front porch, WCPO reported.
The storm also disrupted the start of school. Multiple Northern Kentucky schools postponed their first day of class due to storm damage, according to Fox 19. Holy Cross High School in Covington pushed its opening from Wednesday to Thursday, Aug. 13.
The Storm Prediction Center is evaluating whether Tuesday's system qualifies as a derecho.
A Flood Watch remains in effect until 11 p.m. Wednesday for all of Northern Kentucky, with several inches of rain possible. Additional severe thunderstorms are possible Wednesday, primarily south of I-70, though forecasters expect them to be less intense than Tuesday's storms.
Duke Energy said it is using self-healing technology to remotely reroute power around damaged equipment and will communicate estimated restoration times through its outage map as damage assessments continue. Customers who see downed or sagging power lines should stay away and call 911 and Duke Energy at 800-544-6900.
