Strong winds blast area: Buildings damaged, trees uprooted, homes lose power
Strong winds with gusts up to 50 mph swept through Richland and Crawford County early Saturday, tearing off roofs, knocking over trees and cutting power to thousands of homes.
FirstEnergy reported 2,800 homes lost power in Richland County and another 780 in Crawford County.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind advisory Saturday afternoon until 8 p.m., with west winds from 20 to 30 mph and gusting up to 50 mph. The forecast called for winds dropping to 9 to 15 mph overnight.
In Madison Township, Trustee Cathy Swank said that half of the roof of the Madison Township Hall was gone due to wind damage early Saturday morning.
Swank said the storm hit after 2 a.m. and she received a call about the damage around 3 a.m.
"The township hall is closed indefinitely and meetings will be held in the training room of the Madison Township Fire Department until further notice," Swank said Saturday morning.
"Beal Road residents lost garages and there are several roads closed in the township," she said.
Semi reportedly overturned by wind on U.S. 30
Swank said a semitrailer overturned from the wind on U.S. 30.
Madison Township has a lot of damage, she said.
Township records were stored in the building's attic and the records are gone.
"It's a mess," she said. The fire department has put a tarp over the town hall roof, but if more rain comes she is concerned that water will come in.
Swank said the wind was so strong it moved the fire department's dumpster and damaged firefighters' personal vehicles.
Richland County Sheriff's Capt. Donald Zehner said deputies were out knocking on residents' doors checking on them after the storm, and to the best of his knowledge there were no injuries to anyone.
He said the damage trail started west of Stewart Road behind University Hospitals and traveled to Windsor Road.
"Advance Auto lost its roof," he said.
Rebecca Owens, director of the Richland County Emergency Management Agency, said the damages are on Beal Road and around Expressview Drive with the brunt of the Richland County storm damage hitting Madison Township.
Trees uprooted or snapped off; lots of debris
"There are trees uprooted and trees which appear to have been snapped off, a lot of debris from trees, and wires are down and the utility companies have been alerted," Owens said.
Crawford County also was hit by high winds.
"The tree damage is mostly in the Northeast portion in the county," said Crawford County EMA Director Jette Cander. "There is obviously some tree damage in Galion and in-between power outages. The train that was in Lykens Township was probably the most significant thing. A garage was taken off the home in that same area."
Cander also stated that a number of houses were hit in the process.
"There were several houses that got hit," Cander said. "Most of them were outbuildings. The homes we saw actual damage to was maybe two. A garage and a roof. The City of Galion lost a couple of transformers from poles falling over, so that was going to be a lengthy repair but not nothing immediate."
No reports of injuries
People should report any power outages to utility companies and if there is building damage, contact First Call 211, she said.
"And obviously contact their insurance companies first," she said.
"There are no reports of injuries to anyone at this time," Owens said.
News Journal reporter James Simpson contributed to this report.
lwhitmir@gannett.com
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Twitter: @LWhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: County EMA director Rebecca Owens says no injuries reported
