Warren County residents fared better than much of the region after the destructive storms that struck Tuesday, Aug. 11. Duke Energy's outage map showed just 17 customers without power in the county by Wednesday night. But across Greater Cincinnati, more than 52,000 customers remained in the dark as of 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 13.

The utility said it has restored power to more than 171,000 customers since Tuesday's storms, according to Fox 19. At the peak Tuesday evening, the Duke Energy outage map showed nearly 175,000 customers without service across southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky, WCPO reported.

Warren County's rapid recovery

Warren County had 4,621 outages Tuesday evening. That number fell to 2,606 by 5:20 p.m. Wednesday and dropped to just 17 by 10:05 p.m., according to Duke Energy outage data reported by the Journal-News and Dayton Daily News. No Warren County-specific figure was available for Thursday morning.

Tuesday's storms also downed a tree that shut down I-71 southbound and triggered flash flood warnings covering Mason.

Hamilton County remains the hardest hit, with 27,268 customers still without power Thursday morning, followed by Clermont County at 11,462.

Crews working around the clock

Duke Energy has deployed more than 1,000 additional lineworkers, tree trimmers, damage assessors and support personnel from outside Ohio and Kentucky to assist with repairs. Crews have been clearing fallen trees, navigating blocked roads and replacing damaged poles.

"Our crews have made significant progress under extremely challenging conditions, but we still have substantial work ahead of us," storm director Andy Cassidy said Thursday.

Cassidy warned that outages involving broken poles, downed lines or significant equipment damage could take considerably longer to fix. The company has not provided a specific timeline for full restoration.

This marks the second major storm outage for Warren County in less than three weeks. A thunderstorm complex on July 27 also knocked out power to thousands of county customers, with a 102.4 mph wind gust recorded in nearby Middletown.

Safety reminders and how to report outages

Duke Energy urges residents to stay away from downed or sagging power lines and anything touching them, and to operate generators safely. Treat intersections with non-working traffic signals as four-way stops.

Call 911 and Duke Energy at 800-543-5599 to report downed lines or other hazards.

To report an outage, customers can text OUT to 57801, use the Duke Energy mobile app, visit duke-energy.com/outages or call 800-769-3766. An interactive outage map with estimated restoration times is available at duke-energy.com.