Area recovers from weekend storms, flooding, power outages
Friday night lightning, Saturday storms and Sunday power outages preceded some schools dismissing early because of Monday’s heat.
It was that kind of weekend for weather, which included lightning, hail, heavy rain and flash flooding. More than 200 homes in Montgomery County were still without power Monday afternoon, and flooding was an issue in some spots. Kettering had 3.18 inches of rainfall on Sunday.
Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist Eric Elwell’s forecast calls for “unseasonably warm” temperatures until midweek. Tuesday’s forecast high could reach the upper 80s with a slight chance for a pop-up storm.
At various points, thousands were without power after weekend storms that also dumped 1.95 inches of rain in Xenia.
The storms gave way to a hot and humid Monday, prompting some school districts to send children home early due to extreme heat and/or no air conditioning. Those schools included Clark-Shawnee, Greenon, Southeastern, Holy Angels Catholic School in Sidney, Sidney City Schools and Valley View. The Springfield Soup Kitchen opened as a cooling center.
At 3 p.m. Monday, reports from DP&L, Ohio Edison and Duke Energy indicated homes without power included 71 in Butler County, 36 in Greene County, 19 in Clark County and 18 apiece in Warren County and Miami County.
Bruce Coppock, DP&L director of operations, said extra line crews were called in from Kentucky, Tennessee and other parts across Ohio to clear branches that knocked down lines.
Kettering resident Mike Covey talked about the effects of being without power. “When you get used to something, you get convenience, and now, it’s like nothing, and then you start to think, ‘Hey, I’ve got $300 worth of groceries,’” he said. The outages started Friday night when a storm knocked power out to about 6,000 DP&L customers. Coppock said they were preparing to send crews to Florida, where a tropical disturbance was threatening to turn into a hurricane. “Saturday’s forecast caught everyone off-guard,” Coppock said. “Just significant damage. Unbelievable tree damage.”