Updated: 6/17/2009 7:24:32 AM
A quick dash to grab clothes off the line turned into quite a scare for Monty Sands.
"The winds were probably at least 60-70 miles per hour. It was bending the trees plum over," Sands said.
From there, others made the sprint to dart after garbage cans that had suddenly grown legs.
"The wind was really blowing and that's how we knew it was coming," Jimmy Spurlock said.
Everything was a little more difficult Tuesday night in Emlyn, Kentucky because of the high winds and stinging rain. But, the lightning, that was downright scary for some.
"I hollered and told them, it's falling, the trees are," Sands said.
"We were out getting the garbage cans and he said, there goes the pole and we saw it leaning. I was like oww! So I took off for the house, It scared me. We were all scared," Spurlock said.
In the middle of the neighborhood they say three lightning bolts struck a pair of trees and the ground.
The trees, roughly four feet in diameter are toast and on their way down they took out some power lines too.
It was just one part of a power problem Tuesday in Whitley County, Kentucky. Most of nearby Williamsburg was without power for much of the night.
Most of the stores and restaurants along Highway 92 were black. Even the Wal-Mart on the edge of town was shut down with no power.
Utility crews from Kentucky Utilities and Jellico Electric worked well past sundown but it appears many neighborhoods will have to wait until at least Wednesday to get back on the grid.
"It's a mess out there," Sands said. "I'm waiting on that light pole to break next, it's waiting to break. It's already got a crack in it."
While they'll likely not be setting electronic alarm clocks as they get ready for bed Tuesday, they're thankful to know no injuries or major damage to homes have been reported with the line of storms.
