Roads became deadly, hazardous during Friday’s severe weather
Lexington-Fayette Emergency Management says we won't know the true extent of the damage until morning
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Friday, significant road hazards across Central Kentucky caused by severe weather resulted in one death in Fayette County.
Downed power lines in roads, blacked out streetlights and traffic lights were all scenes from Friday’s severe weather.
According to Lexington-Fayette Emergency Management, we won’t know the true extent of the damage until morning.
“Our day started out with a call for ten overturned semis on I-64. That turned out to be in Fayette County. Since then, we’ve been holding about 27 calls consecutively. Tapped out at 60. There’s about 20 and 25 calls that we’re working on right now,” said Emergency Management Director Michael Hennigan.
As night fell Friday, Lexington-Fayette Emergency Management Director John Bobel says the roads will get even more dangerous for crews to access.
“Our streets and roads crews are out there trying to get things cleared. Now that it’s dark. It’s going to be dangerous to get to some of the roads that are completely blocked in some neighborhoods,” said Bobel.
Bobel says first responders have tracked hundreds of incidents due to weather.
The Lexington Police Department says it responded to 143 traffic-related incidents between 1PM and 6:30PM Friday afternoon.
Just one of those in Fayette County happened on The Lane, just off Mason-Headley Road, resulting in one death.
The Lexington Fire Department says a car carrying three people was blocked by a tree limb. As one person got out to remove the tree from the roadway, another tree fell onto the car.
Two people were still inside the car–one was injured and taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The other died on-scene.
According to the Fayette County Coroner, 41-year-old Erica Yeary died just after 6:30 PM Friday.
Overnight, Bobel says his biggest concern is drivers, urging people to stay off the roads.
“It’s just dangerous out there right now. Especially the neighborhoods where there’s no light. You may find yourself running over a tree or running into a tree that’s across the road. We want people to stay safe, to stay off the roads, until we get a better idea of what the extent of the damage is,” said Bobel.
According to Bobel, clean-up from Friday’s weather isn’t going to happen in a day; he estimates it could take at least a week or two.
