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LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) – There were 536,569 total power outages reported, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

Beshear updated Kentuckians on Saturday and addressed the growing number of fatalities reported from the storms, the efforts to restore power to Kentuckians, and numerous damage reports from across the Bluegrass.

Beshear did take time to applaud the relentless efforts from utility workers as numerous customers have had their power restored, as of11:11 a.m. EST on Saturday. He also said Kentuckians should expect a multi-day power restoration effort.

“These were very serious storms, but thankfully we saw the potential impact early and Kentuckians took the advice given, which made a big difference,” said Beshear. “When it comes to power, this is going to be a multi-day event as we recover from very significant and widespread damage to power lines. We need everyone to continue to use caution in the days ahead. Accidents can still happen due to downed power lines and high water. We’ve heartbreakingly already loss 5 people and we don’t want to lose any more, so please stay alert.”  

There are still 157,780 customers without power as of 8 p.m. EST.

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Over 500,000 customers are without power across the Commonwealth. The FOX 56 Weather Authority expects those numbers to climb as high winds continue into this evening.

At 8 p.m., PowerOutage.us reported 505,411 customers are experiencing power outages. Kentucky’s commissioner of agriculture, Ryan Quarles reminded Kentuckians on Twitter to check on their neighbors and to keep line workers and road crews in their thoughts while they work to clean up.

At 5 p.m., PowerOutage.us reported 280,000 customers were without power out of the nearly 2.2 million customers tracked. Now at 6:30 p.m., they have updated the number of outages to 403,525 Most of the power outages are in the western portions of Kentucky.

Kentucky severe weather coverage:

Harrodsburg had wind gusts up to 73 mph and Frankfort hit 68 mph. These strong winds could cause more power outages as winds continue to push east. Multiple counties could see more winds above 60 mph.