Photo: twitter.com/nwslin
"Our wind turbine is going strong!" the National Weather Service in Wilmington tweets on June 13, 2022.
At 5 p.m. Monday in Cincinnati, the sky turned grey and clouds began spitting rain.
An hour later, the region was fighting a windy, rainy, violent storm that would scatter debris and cause major damage.
As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, about 84,000 Duke Energy Customers throughout Greater Cincinnati are still without electricity after the June 13 storm in which winds reached 70 MPH. The winds toppled trees, destroyed playground equipment, blew patio furniture away and took down power lines and poles, according to public photos posted to social media accounts.
[5:35PM] A cluster of STRONG storms is moving east toward the Dayton and Cincinnati Metro areas. These storms have winds of 60 - 70MPH+ associated with them. pic.twitter.com/7iMXgCZg5k
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) June 13, 2022
Additional rounds of stormy wind and rain continued throughout the evening, with the National Weather Service in Wilmington warning residents, "Don't let your guard down."[6:18PM] Radar update. A line of severe storms is moving east across southwest OH. We've been receiving reports of tree limbs broken, trees down, and power outages from 70MPH + winds.
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) June 13, 2022
Have multiple ways to receive warnings!! pic.twitter.com/ZdzEiMKxTD
Damage and a loss of power are occurring throughout the region, with the hardest-hit areas being north of Cincinnati. In particular, thousands of Duke customers in and near Middletown, Carlisle, Monroe and Trenton remain without electricity.
Restoring power to customers is slow going because of the need to clear debris, Duke officials say.
"Crews worked through the night to make repairs, but damage is severe and widespread. In the areas hardest hit, we may need to adjust our initial estimated times of restoration to account for the isolated nature of the damage incurred," Duke says on its regional power outages page.
Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued to local counties shortly before the storm hit.
The loss of power comes in an inopportune time, as the heat index is expected to be over 105º, the NWS says. The agency has issued an excessive heat warning for June 14 and an excessive heat watch for June 15. Another storm is expected to roll through on June 16, the NWS adds.
To report power outages to Duke Energy, text OUT to 57801 or call 800-543-5599. Learn about what else to do before and during power outages.
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