Severe storm leaves county with rain, minor wind damage in its wake

STAFF REPORT

Thursday, May 27, 2011, 1:25 a.m. — A squall line that spawned dozens of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings across several states hit Nelson County with gusty winds, heavy rain and lightning.

The line of storms produced reports of tornado damage in Bedford, Ind, and a tractor-trailer rig blown over near Huntingburg, Ind. A tornado was reported on the ground south of Owensboror as the storm passed through Daviess County.

Straight-line winds were believed to be the cause of damage reported across much of Kentucky. Measured wind gusts of more than 60 mph in nearby Shelby County were reported as the storms passed through. In Louisville, high winds took down trees and powerlines, leaving several thousand LG&E customers in the dark.

Kentucky Utilities reported about 190 customers were without power at 1 a.m. Thursday. Salt River Electric crews worked through the night to repair down lines near the KOA campground in Bullitt County as well as repair other outages in their service area.

Several severe thunderstorm warnings included portions of Nelson County throughout the evening as the storms pushed to the east-northeast.

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