Kentucky devastated by winter storm

LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A winter storm brought the biggest power outage in Kentucky history with nine reported deaths related to the weather, state officials said Friday.

The storm hit late Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon, power companies reported that a record 607,000 homes and businesses had no electricity, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. The weather hampered efforts to restore power.

Andrew Melnykovych, the spokesman for the state Public Service Commission, told CNN that the power outage is more difficult than the one that followed Hurricane Ike in September because being without electricity now creates a "life-threatening situation," adding the state is in "an indescribable mess."

Water service has been cut for 93,000 customers.

The office of Gov. Steve Beshear said that two deaths had been confirmed as being caused by the storm while another seven had been reported.

Residents of Kentucky's many remote rural areas were having the toughest time. Larry Holeman, deputy emergency management director, described Grayson County in the Western Coal Fields as "a war zone."