CRESTLINE – A severe thunderstorm passing quickly through Richland and Crawford County on Monday night and Tuesday morning left significant damage in its wake.
Trees, power lines and even houses were damaged in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm that hit the area late Monday night. According to Richland County EMA Deputy Director Rick Evans, the storm came so quickly it caught residents and emergency agencies off guard.
“There were severe thunderstorm watches and warnings, and then it just happened,” Evans said. “There were no tornado warnings, and the sirens didn’t go off. It happened too quick.”
The National Weather Service in Cleveland issued a report at 5 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 4 that stated there was only a “slight risk for severe thunderstorms late today and tonight with damaging winds the biggest threat.” But the storm moved so quickly that as of 11 p.m. on Monday, the weather service had reported no hazardous weather expected in northeast Ohio.
Gary Garnet, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland, said severe thunderstorm warnings were issued at 10:30 p.m. in Crawford County, and 11 p.m. in Richland County – right when the storm hit both areas.
“This was a bigger storm that spun out pretty fast in Crawford County and then moved to Richland County,” Garnet said. “It goes back to the rapid development of the storm – some storms are easier to get lead time on, others are not quite as predictable.”
Garnet said the National Weather Service first received reports of the storm at around 10:45 p.m. in Crawford County, and 11 p.m. in Richland County. He noted typically in a severe thunderstorm, areas affected can experience hail, damaging winds or even tornado-level winds.
Evans stated the EMA has been in contact with the National Weather Service’s Cleveland office to determine the full extent of the storm. A team from the National Weather Service is due Tuesday in Richland and Crawford County to assess the damages.
“What they’re looking at is the characteristics of the damage to see if they were caused by down-burst winds from a thunderstorm, or a tornado,” Garnet explained. “Tornadoes leave very distinct signatures in terms of the damage displayed. They’ll be looking at that to determine what caused that, and if it was a tornado they will determine wind speeds.”
Evans said the Richland County EMA first received a call about damages at around 11 p.m. on Monday evening. They have also been in communication with the Crawford County EMA, where the most damage occurred in the form of water damage, downed trees and downed wires.
“It hit us pretty good in Richland County, but luckily there have been no injuries,” Evans said.
Residents in both Richland and Crawford County have also been experiencing power outages as a result of the storm. According to Ohio Edison, 1,287 of their customers in Richland County and 141 customers in Crawford County are currently without power, expected to be restored by 3 p.m. Tuesday. In addition, AEP Ohio reported 762 outages in Crawford County, and 285 outages were reported in Richland County.
Colonel Crawford Schools were closed Tuesday because of the power outage.
Evans reported the most storm damage was done to a residence on Hook Road near Crestline.
“It took the roof off, and there was a lady and a girl thrown outside,” he said. “The bedroom they were in was totally destroyed, and they ended up by their pool about 50 feet away.”
The two females were transported to the emergency room to be checked out but suffered only minor injuries, Evans said. A father and son also in the residence were unharmed.
Other storm damages Evans reported in Crawford County included a roof blown off a business, a truck turned over, and many wires and trees blocking roadways. Evans warned residents coming upon a downed wire to assume it is a live wire and do not touch or drive over it.
“One house had the chimney knocked over and some porch damage,” he said. “And a couple barns were pretty much destroyed.”
