Overnight storms rake Hawesville, Lewisport as tornado outbreak rocks region

Hancock County residents woke Monday to power outages, downed trees and scattered debris after violent storms swept through late Sunday as a tornado outbreak unfolded across the Ohio Valley.

A line of severe thunderstorms moved in late in the evening, with radar showing a warned storm tracking along the river corridor and forecasters calling for damaging winds and significant tree damage.

By daybreak, crews with the Hancock County Road Department were out clearing limbs and fallen trees from county roads and driveways in and around Hawesville and Lewisport to reopen routes for emergency vehicles and residents heading to work. Workers focused first on main connectors before shifting to side roads where trees and utility lines were blocking access.

Residents in Hawesville reported trees snapped or uprooted and outbuildings damaged as the strongest winds pushed through town. Debris was left in yards and along streets, and storm reports and photos from the community were sent to the National Weather Service office in Louisville through local media channels.

In Lewisport, the storms arrived under a tornado warning that also covered Tell City and Cannelton across the river in Indiana. A severe storm west of town around 10 p.m. prompted warnings of damage to roofs, windows and vehicles, and tree damage as it moved toward the river communities. Observers along the path reported frequent power flashes as the storm crossed the area, a sign of lines and transformers being struck by falling limbs.

Across the wider service area, thousands of customers lost power as storms moved through, and utility crews worked into Monday to restore service. Emergency responders spent the morning checking roads and neighborhoods in and around Hawesville and Lewisport for blocked driveways, downed lines and structural damage as they gathered reports from residents.

Kenergy, which serves Hancock County and surrounding areas, directed members to its online outage center and live system map for real-time updates and reminded customers to report power failures or hazardous conditions by calling 800-844-4832.

As cleanup continued, Kentucky Emergency Management and Hancock County Emergency Management shared National Weather Service guidance that thunderstorms would linger over western Kentucky Monday and that additional showers and strong to severe storms would move across the rest of the commonwealth into the evening, with damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flash flooding the main threats.

Officials repeated the reminder not to drive into standing water, echoing the familiar message: “Turn around, don’t drown.”

The local damage came on a night when forecasters and storm chasers were tracking what some described as one of the most volatile tornado setups in years for the region. Regional weather outlets reported that dozens of tornadoes were confirmed overnight just to the north, including multiple tornadoes in the two Indiana counties that border Daviess County.

Chase teams with Ohio Valley Weather Watch followed storms from White County, Illinois, toward the Toyota plant near Princeton, then south and east toward Evansville and the Ohio River communities opposite Hancock County, documenting multiple tornadoes, debris clouds and repeated power flashes beneath rotating storms.

One chaser called it the “craziest chase day” of a career while praising television meteorologists in Evansville for their live coverage during the outbreak.

By Monday, the National Weather Service said survey teams were fanning out across Kentucky to investigate reports of severe wind damage and suspected tornado tracks. Investigators are expected to review local reports and images from Hawesville and Lewisport in the coming days to determine whether the damage there was caused by straight-line winds or a brief tornado and, if so, to assign an EF rating.

As of Monday morning, no serious injuries had been reported in Hancock County, but officials urged residents to document and report damage to help refine the surveys and guide recovery efforts.