About 6,000 Appalachian Power customers remain without power this morning after a string of severe thunderstorms pounded the region.

AEP crews have been working since late Sunday night trying to restore power to more than 16,000 affected customers in 10 counties, spanning from Cabell to McDowell, AEP spokesman Jeri Matheney said.

Matheney said Wayne and Logan counties suffered the worst damage, with about 11,000 of AEP's total number of affected customers coming from the two counties.

Downed trees from high winds and lightning caused interruptions to entire circuit distributors Sunday night, resulting in thousands of outages at once, Matheney said.

Matheney said she didn't know exactly when customers in the more rural counties would finally have electricity again, but expected everyone to be restored by midnight.

More than 300 people in Kanawha County and about 150 in Putnam County still did not have power this morning.

Additional maintenance crews had to be requested to help in rural areas and places more difficult to access, Matheny said.

AEP is the largest electricity provider in the state.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Pellerito said 51 mph winds -- the highest in the area -- were clocked in Huntington.

About 6,000 Appalachian Power customers remain without power this morning after a string of severe thunderstorms pounded the region.

AEP crews have been working since late Sunday night trying to restore power to more than 16,000 affected customers in 10 counties, spanning from Cabell to McDowell, AEP spokesman Jeri Matheney said.

Matheney said Wayne and Logan counties suffered the worst damage, with about 11,000 of AEP's total number of affected customers coming from the two counties.

Downed trees from high winds and lightning caused interruptions to entire circuit distributors Sunday night, resulting in thousands of outages at once, Matheney said.

Matheney said she didn't know exactly when customers in the more rural counties would finally have electricity again, but expected everyone to be restored by midnight.

More than 300 people in Kanawha County and about 150 in Putnam County still did not have power this morning.

Additional maintenance crews had to be requested to help in rural areas and places more difficult to access, Matheny said.

AEP is the largest electricity provider in the state.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Pellerito said 51 mph winds -- the highest in the area -- were clocked in Huntington.

He said there were several reports of large tree branches broken and structural damage in both Cabell and Wayne counties.

Some people reported seeing funnel clouds, but no tornadoes were confirmed, he said.

Winds were measured at more than 30 mph at Yeager Airport in Charleston, but no major damage was reported, Pellerito said.

Charleston street maintenance director Don Carr said there were no reported traffic or street problems inside the city due to the storms.

Pellerito said hot and humid conditions coupled with fair amounts of wind shear led to the severity of the storms.

He said residents in the Kanawha Valley were fortunate and managed to escape much of the severe weather.

Pellerito said the forecast calls for more of the same types of storms to move through the region throughout the next couple of days.

"We have a batch upstream right now, out by Illinois, and that disturbance will arrive here tonight," Pellerito said.  "The stuff associated with that storm will sweep through the area by about dinner time (tonight)."