In the photo above, storm damage can be seen on Friday to the temporary fencing in front of the Avalon Theater. In the photo below, a billboard off Clymer Road and Industrial Parkway is blown over by high winds. Additional photos on storm damage may be found on pages 5 and 8. Any one who wishes to share their storm photos can send them to the Journal-Tribune Facebook page or marysvillejt.com and click the submit a photo button. (Journal-Tribune photos by Chad Williamson)
Property owners around Marysville are continuing to clean-up after a wind storm swept through the area Friday evening.
Marysville Fire Chief Jay Riley said it was “a pretty rough weather event for us.”
Brad Gilbert, director of the Union County Emergency Management Agency said Marysville saw sustained and increased wind gusts beginning about 6:45 p.m.
He said the storm included “mostly straight-line winds for 15 to 20 minutes, maybe a little less, but the rain lasted longer than that.”
He said there were no funnels spotted and the debris was not twisted, indicating the storm did not include tornados.
Gilbert said the storm hit, “pretty much the whole city” though certain areas received more damage than others.
Deputy Police Chief Tony Brooks said the storm was “one of the hardest, fastest moving things I had ever seen.”
He said about half a dozen streets were closed “for various periods of time.”
Brooks said passersby worked together to remove a large limb from Ninth Street so emergency vehicles could get to the hospital.
“It was kind of nice seeing everybody helping out and neighbors helping neighbors clear debris,” Brooks said. “It was really cool to see.”
Riley said the southern portion of the city received most of the damage. Gilbert specifically mentioned Colemans Crossing to Grove Street and Route 38 to Fourth Street. Gilbert said the hospital received some damage. He said the Union County Airport also, “had quite a bit of damage.” He said it is fortunate the All Ohio Balloon Fest was canceled. He said a large transformer pole fell near the main entrance and “if there had been people, it definitely would not have been good.”
Riley said that in the hour and a half following the storm, Marysville Division of Fire responded to 15 calls.
“We had a number of downed power lines, trees down blocking the road, a lot of debris, even a report of a fire that turned out to not be a fire,” Riley said.
Riley and Gilbert said they had not heard of any injuries relating as a result of the storm.
Officials said large portions of Marysville were without power for at least a portion of the weekend.
“We still had people getting power put back on yesterday,” Gilbert said this morning, adding that as of 10 p.m., Sunday, crews were working on “little jobs.”
He said power has been restored to all residents but some electricity infrastructure needs repaired.
Gilbert said that while many buildings received some dames, he did not know of any structural damage caused.
“Nothing that will tear down the building, nothing like we saw with Fiesta Grande,” Gilbert said.
In the afternoon hours of June 29, 2012, a long-sustained straight-line wind storm blew through Union County, damaging the 130-year-old building that housed the Fiesta Grand Mexican restaurant. Owners of the building decided to tear it down on July 1, 2012.
According to the National Weather Service, homeowners are encouraged to trim tree branches away from their house and power lines and secure loose gutters and shutters before storms. They are also encouraged to make a list of items outside the home that need tied down or put away so that they don’t blow away or fly through a window.
“When NWS issues a high wind or severe thunderstorm watch, immediately secure these items to avoid damage or injury once the wind starts picking up,” according to information from the NWS.
The agency also recommends residents identify an interior room of their home, such as a basement or interior bathroom, where they can take shelter in during high wind warnings. Mobile home residents are told to identify a sturdy building they can go to in case of high winds or storm warnings.
The NWS recommends that after a wind storm, residents report downed power lines to the police, but do not go near them.
In the photo above, a tent blows over due to high winds in front of a house on Stocksdale Drive on Friday night. The tent was entangled in electrical wires. In the bottom photo, a tree just misses falling on a home on Collins Avenue near Collins and South Maple Street. A fierce storm roared through portion of Union County, causing property damage and a lengthy power outage. (Journal-Tribune photos by Kevin Behrens)
A tree is down (above) on Stocksdale Drive in front of the Vanover Village Apartment complex after a storm roared through the area Friday evening. In the photo below, all five lanes of traffic are backed up at Five Points due to a power outage as a result of the storm. (Journal-Tribune photos by Kevin Behrens)