Thousands without power in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Kentucky still struggled Saturday with the effects of a deadly ice storm that brought the worst power outage in the state's history.

Gov. Steve Beshear called up the entire Army National Guard and part of the Air Guard to help with the disaster, CNN reported. About 4,600 Guard members will be dispatched to the hardest-hit area, WKYT.com reported.

Beshear called the storm "the biggest natural disaster in the state's modern history," WKYT said. The governor said 450,000 people still had no electricity in their homes late Saturday, down from 700,000 Thursday.

Thousands of people also had no water service, CNN said.

"It's going to take some time to dig our way out of this," the governor said.

The western part of the state was hit the hardest, he said.

Jamie Gunnels said she had been told her power might not be restored for several days. She was in a Louisville shelter with a young child.

"We were sitting there being thankful that we still had power," she said. "A few minutes after we said we were thankful we had power, it went out."

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson said there had been at least four deaths from the storm, three people in one family killed by an improperly vented generator and another person who was using a charcoal grill for heat.