FRANKFORT (Kentucky), Feb 1: National Guard troops swinging chain saws made their way into isolated Kentucky communities on Sunday to check on residents walloped by a winter storm that Gov. Steve Beshear called the biggest natural disaster ever to hit the state.

Kentucky was the state hardest-hit by the ice storm that paralysed wide areas of the US midsection early last week.

Some 4,600 guardsmen fanned out across Kentucky to distribute food and water, remove fallen trees, go door-to-door in hard-hit areas and provide security in communities that have been evacuated.

With high temperatures well into the 40s Fahrenheit (above 5 degrees Celsius) through the weekend, much of the ice that had clung to buildings, power lines, trees and roads has disappeared. And another winter storm that had been forecast to hit on Monday apparently will bypass the state.

“Hopefully we will dodge the bullet,” Beshear said. “We’re keeping a watchful eye on that.”

The storm wrapped a large part of Kentucky in an inch-thick mantle of ice that shattered utility poles, toppled trees and drove thousands from frigid homes to shelters, and the state had a long way to go toward recovery — authorities said it could be weeks before power was restored in some spots.

More than 400,000 Kentucky homes and businesses still lacked electricity on Sunday, down from more than 700,000, a state record.

Officials told those still shivering in dark, unheated homes to seek safe refuge in motels and places with power or generators.

“Too many people are trying to tough it out at home,” Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo said.

Finding fuel was a struggle for those trying to tough it out at home. Hospitals and other essential services took priority.—AP