Tornado causes 56K to be without power

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The series of tornadoes that ripped through Western Kentucky early Saturday morning left a trail of damage and cut power to tens of thousands in the commonwealth.

Speaking at a press conference at 5 a.m., Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said 56,854 people in the state were without power as of 4:45 a.m. The death toll from the storm, he said, would likely pass 50 and climb between 70 to 100 casualties.

"Some areas have been hit in ways that are hard to put into words," he said.

Storms hit Louisville, but the state's largest city appeared to have been spared from the worst of the damage. Still, more than 22,000 Louisville Gas & Electric customers appeared to be without power just before 7 a.m., according to an outage map from LG&E.

Live updates in Kentucky:Get the latest from the severe weather in the state

Outage maps in other hard-hit areas, including Mayfield and Bowling Green, weren't able to be accessed at about 6:30 a.m.

A map shown by Beshear during his 5 a.m. press conference indicated power outages were at their worst in Western Kentucky — specifically in Hopkins, Muhlenberg and Ohio counties, though data from some far-west counties was unavailable.