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Kentuckians head down to coastal states to help with recovery efforts

"Ian's...not a good guest. He's loud, he's messy. You're not gonna like him and he stays too long."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hundreds of LG&E workers are still making their way to Florida to help restore power.

WHAS has found more Louisvillians who once lived in the metro, but are now living in the hurricane zone of Florida.

Barbara Kehoe was raised and lived in Louisville for years, and moved to the St. Petersburg, Florida area 11 years ago.

Her family fared pretty well through the storms, however, she said now, access to power and other necessities is what many are needing.

"This time you know, we really worried, we didn't know what was going to happen. We were watching it to see if we were going to need to evacuate," Kehoe said.

She said seeing crews coming down from Kentuckiana is special due to her close connection to LG&E and their crews.

"It is really special to me because my dad worked for LG&E for his entire work career. He retired from there," Kehoe said.

LG&E representatives said they have around 200 contracted and full-time employees heading down to coastal states as of Thursday night.

Linemen, like Eric Chumbley, are from all over Kentucky, and are preparing to help.

"Sometimes it's a hurricane, sometimes it's a tornado outbreak, it's just a really rewarding feeling to be able to go and help bring a little bit of light back to those people's situation," he said.

Other linemen like Richard Steele with Clark Energy of Central Kentucky, said this relationship is mutual.

"When Florida gets hit with a tropical storm or big storms like that we go down there to help them," Steele said. "When we get the ice storms and snowstorms they come up here and help us."

For Kehoe, she said this help is needed as winds are still strong and power is scarce.

"You can kind of see the electrical wall lines running through there," she said. "Those wires were bouncing off that tree for several hours, sparking like green and blue and every other color."

She said she is praying for her friends in the Carolinas as Hurricane Ian heads their way.

"Ian's coming your way. He's not a good guest. He's loud, he's messy. You're not gonna like him and he stays too long," Kehoe said.

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