Strong winds and lightning damaged homes and vehicles Sunday and knocked out power across West Virginia.

More than 40,000 Appalachian Power customers lost electricity in West Virginia. Those in Kanawha and Fayette counties were hit hardest. Nearly 16,000 had lost power in those two counties as of 5 p.m.

Robin Martin's landlord called her at about 11:15 a.m. to tell her about her Cadillac Catera, which was destroyed by a large tree that fell onto Park Avenue on Charleston's West Side. Martin had been in Ravenswood visiting her father. A friend drove.

"I didn't realize the severity of it until I got here about ... 2:30 [p.m.]," she said. "I've never parked there before."

Martin only had liability coverage on the car. She used to have a Dodge Intrepid, which she said was destroyed by vandals.

"I've only had it six months," she said. "I can't believe my luck. Honestly, I'm out of tears."

In some of the hardest-hit parts of Fayette and Kanawha counties, customers might not see power restored until Tuesday night, said Appalachian Power spokesman Phil Moye. Felled trees on power lines led to most of the outages, Moye said. The majority of customers in Jackson and some surrounding counties should have power back today, he said.

Kanawha was hit hardest in the eastern part of the county and in the Elkview area, Moye said.

Strong winds and lightning damaged homes and vehicles Sunday and knocked out power across West Virginia.

More than 40,000 Appalachian Power customers lost electricity in West Virginia. Those in Kanawha and Fayette counties were hit hardest. Nearly 16,000 had lost power in those two counties as of 5 p.m.

Robin Martin's landlord called her at about 11:15 a.m. to tell her about her Cadillac Catera, which was destroyed by a large tree that fell onto Park Avenue on Charleston's West Side. Martin had been in Ravenswood visiting her father. A friend drove.

"I didn't realize the severity of it until I got here about ... 2:30 [p.m.]," she said. "I've never parked there before."

Martin only had liability coverage on the car. She used to have a Dodge Intrepid, which she said was destroyed by vandals.

"I've only had it six months," she said. "I can't believe my luck. Honestly, I'm out of tears."

In some of the hardest-hit parts of Fayette and Kanawha counties, customers might not see power restored until Tuesday night, said Appalachian Power spokesman Phil Moye. Felled trees on power lines led to most of the outages, Moye said. The majority of customers in Jackson and some surrounding counties should have power back today, he said.

Kanawha was hit hardest in the eastern part of the county and in the Elkview area, Moye said.

Also late Sunday afternoon, more than 2,000 customers each in Roane, Raleigh, Nicholas and Boone counties went without power, according to AEP figures.

The National Weather Service in Charleston hadn't received any reports of flooding by Sunday afternoon, meteorologist Tom Mazza said. Still, a flash flood watch was in effect Sunday for Roane, Clay, Nicholas and five other central West Virginia counties.

At about 4 p.m., Mazza said it was likely the watch would be lifted before 11 p.m. because he did not expect heavy rains Sunday evening.

Other counties in the eastern part of the state - in a swath that ran from Raleigh County to Barbour County - were under a wind advisory watch late Sunday afternoon.

Wind gusts in Beckley grew as strong as 52 miles per hour, Mazza said. Parts of Mercer County were under both high wind and flash flood warnings Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Elsewhere in West Virginia, nearly 12,000 Allegheny Energy customers lost power, the Associated Press reported.

To contact staff writer Davin White, use e-mail or call 348-1254.