By Roger Alford
The Associated Press

PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A line of storms spawned at least one tornado, destroyed mobile homes, flooded roads and triggered mudslides in eastern Kentucky on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Jackson confirmed that a tornado touched down Thursday morning in Pulaski County. They were visiting other hard-hit communities to investigate unconfirmed reports of twisters.

Authorities said four people were injured when a powerful storm producing strong winds swept over the Cheyenne Mobile Home Park about eight miles north of Somerset.

Pulaski County 911 Supervisor Charles Walker said the injured where taken to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset, where a nursing supervisor said all were treated for minor injuries and released.

Five mobile homes were destroyed by the storm and many others damaged. Meteorologist Hal Klingenberg said the aftermath of the storm provided enough evidence to conclude that a tornado caused the damage.

The tornado also downed trees and power lines, leaving the area with scattered electrical outages. Some roads were left blocked by fallen trees, limbs and minor flooding.

Klingenberg said residents from Pulaski to Harlan counties had reported seeing funnel clouds. He said teams were visiting several areas to determine whether additional tornados touched down.

Isolated storm damage was reported throughout much of eastern Kentucky.

Southern Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative said power had been restored early Thursday to most of the 2,400 customers that reported outages in Pulaski, Wayne, Casey, Lincoln and Russell counties.

The rain also left some roads closed in Leslie, Perry and Laurel counties due to high water.

Klingenberg said scattered thunderstorms could produce heavy rains, large hail and strong winds. The storms could produce up to 3 inches of rain by Friday morning, he said. The storm system was expected to linger over Kentucky through the weekend.

A flood watch had been posted for most of Kentucky through Thursday evening.

The Weather Service issued a flood warning for the South Fork of the Kentucky River at Booneville because of the heavy rains. The river was expected to crest above flood stage Thursday evening.

"We've had a number of rounds of storms that have dumped rain over the same area," Klingenberg said. "That's causing the flooding we've seen in some areas."