Gov. Andy Beshear warned Kentuckians to avoid traveling on roads Friday and to be ready for a risk of flooding and power outages as remnants of Hurricane Helene impact Kentucky. Beshear said in a Friday morning briefing that state employees were being sent home early to get ahead of expected peak wind gusts from the

More than 71,000 Kentuckians were without power Friday as the remnants of Hurricane Helene began sweeping through the state. For Central Kentucky, the National Weather Service in Louisville expected possible flooding and wind gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour for Friday afternoon.

In a post on X, Beshear said Breathitt, Clark, Lee, and Letcher counties and the city of Winchester have verbally declared the emergency.

Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall in Florida on Thursday evening and then move to Kentucky on Friday afternoon.