Booneville Officials Urge Residents to Leave Porch Lights On After Ice Storm

Booneville city aldermen planned a neighborhood drive-through on the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2026, to assess power outages following an ice/winter storm. City officials asked residents who currently have electricity to leave porch lights on so crews and city vehicles could visually identify homes without power, a simple signal intended to speed assessment after widespread winter damage.

The request came as crews prepared to canvass neighborhoods by vehicle to log outages and prioritize checks. The announcement identified the aldermen, city officials, crews and city vehicles as the actors involved but did not name individual officials, the department leading the sweep, or the specific start and end times for the drive-through. The notice also did not specify whether utility company crews would accompany city vehicles, how many households were affected, or an estimated restoration timeline.

For Owsley County residents, the visual sweep offered a low-tech way to help responders focus limited resources. Leaving a porch light on can make it easier for crews to distinguish dark homes from those that still have service during evening checks, particularly after an ice storm when downed lines and hazardous road conditions can slow manual inspections. The city’s approach relies on clear, visible signals rather than phone contact or door-to-door outreach in the initial assessment phase.

Separately, the name "Porch Light" appears in a previously published evaluation that is unrelated to Booneville’s outage operation. That Porch Light evaluation documented person-on-the-street interviews across six neighborhood sites and reported a total of 1,325 interviews across three waves. The evaluation noted that "residents were paid two SEPTA tokens (equivalent to about $3.60). During the interview, residents were given a set of laminated response cards that they could use to follow along and give responses using words or numbers. The interviewer read each question or statement in order to sustain rapport and to minimize difficulties reading or in interpreting items." Wave counts in that report were 490 baseline interviews, 474 after October 2012 mural installations, and 361 after October 2013 mural installations, with demographic breakdowns reported in the document. That research is a separate program evaluation and does not provide operational guidance for outage response.

Booneville residents should watch city channels for updates, safety advisories, and restoration timelines. The initial porch-light sweep was an early step to map outages quickly; further checks, official utility assessments, and repairs will determine when full service returns. Local officials have additional details to confirm, including which departments led the effort and whether utility crews were involved, and reporters will follow up for names, timelines, and any safety instructions for households coping with power loss.