FRANKFORT — Some counties in western Kentucky remained without power, heat, communications services – even drinking water – Thursday afternoon. And the state has recorded its first three deaths from the winter storm which has nearly paralyzed parts of Kentucky over the past three days.

But Gov. Steve Beshear said, “help is on the way,” after touring the area Thursday.

“There are a lot of counties which are almost totally non-functional right now in terms of potable drinking water, power and telephone service,” Beshear said upon his late afternoon return to Frankfort after visiting Paducah and Henderson. He said there are 55 water treatment plants without power to treat and distribute safe drinking water to 93,000 and those are top priorities for bringing back on line. In addition to western Kentucky, Beshear said Garrard and Boyle counties had been hard hit

The number of customers without power surpassed the all-time high experienced last September in the wake of Hurricane Ike – more than 607,000 customers have lost power. The state has made helicopters available to major utility companies to travel transmission lines – just to locate the major breaks.

Beshear said the quick action of President Barack Obama’s administration to approve his request for federal assistance is already paying off. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delivered 50 large-scale generators to Fort Campbell on Thursday, Most of those, Beshear said, would be directed to western Kentucky, water plants and nursing homes which have lost power.

FEMA has also delivered five communications vans to the state and will soon bring in drinking water for distribution. The state has been delivering water, but FEMA will add to those supplies.

The federal disaster declaration will also produce additional debris removal equipment and personnel from the federal government to assist Kentucky workers. More than 1,000 National Guard personnel have been activated and Beshear expects more will be called to help with debris removal and other forms of assistance.

“From what I saw out there today, we’re in for a pretty long haul here,” Beshear said. “We have quite a bit of devastation all across Kentucky. This is a situation that is not going to be cured overnight.”

He said officials expect more damage to power lines and more debris on roadways as winter weather caused limbs and lines to thaw and then re-freeze, causing more to fall.

“Folks need to be patient,” Beshear said. “They need to work with each other and come together and help out each other. It’s going to take a tremendous effort to come out of this thing.”

Beshear said 78 counties and 47 across the state have declared emergencies and 113 shelters have opened. He said it’s “impossible to guess” how long some customers may be without power or heat or water. But in many areas, local utility officials are saying it may be up to 10 days. And most of those areas aren’t as hard hit as far western Kentucky.

Beshear said several utility trucks from Alabama arrived to assist Wednesday but couldn’t get cell phone service to find out where they were to go. McCracken County sheriff’s personnel located them and managed to provide communications and they’re now on the job.

Beshear again warned Kentucky’s price-gouging law is in effect, and it applies to more than gasoline and fuel. Building supplies and generators are covered in times of emergency, too, he said. People can report gouging by calling toll free 1-888-432-9257.

He said fuel supplies may become a problem in the hardest hit areas. Not only is it a challenge to deliver fuel, but fuel in the ground tanks can’t be pumped for lack of electricity. He said he saw cars lined up for a quarter of a mile in McCracken County at the few stations that remained open.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com.