Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed five people have died following storms and high winds that moved through Kentucky on Friday.
At a news conference Saturday, Beshear said Simpson, Edmonson, Fayette, Bath and Logan counties all have confirmed deaths.
Dangerous winds that exceeded 70 mph downed power lines and trees and damaged structures across the state.
Beshear declared a state of emergency ahead of the storms.
There were tornados reported in the western part of the state, in Christian and McCracken counties.
Beshear said the western part of the state saw the most damage, with the central part of the state being hit hard by dangerous winds.
Across the state, Beshear reported nearly 400,000 people without power. Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities' outage map showed more than 195,000 without power in their service region, as of Saturday afternoon.
“We've secured more than 1,000 resources [workers] from utilities around our neighboring states,” LG&E media relations manager Liz Pratt said.
Pratt said the utility provider is currently in the protection phase — responding to downed power lines — and wouldn’t be able to provide a timeline for when services will be back until they move into the restoration phase.
“We will continue to move forward with repairing any damages whenever possible. Crews will make temporary repairs to give us that ability to restore power and then come back to make longer-term repairs that might be needed,” Pratt said.
Additionally, Beshear said nearly 2,000 Kentuckians are under a boil water advisory. Five water districts — Barkley Lake, Edmonson County, Scottsville, Campbellsville and Greensburg — are working under limited operations.
“Most of these systems, the impact isn’t from wind damage to the water system itself; it’s the lack of power to the water system,” he said.
Beshear said the Division of Forestry is out clearing roads, with help from one National Guard unit.
The governor said he will continue to provide updates via social media.