Warren County's power is nearly fully back after this week's severe storms, with outages dropping from 4,621 Tuesday evening to just 17 by 10:05 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13.
The fast local recovery came as Duke Energy pushed to finish a massive regionwide restoration effort. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, about 38,861 customers remained without power across Greater Cincinnati: 32,485 in Ohio and 6,376 in Kentucky, according to a Duke Energy press release. The utility said it expected to restore service to nearly all customers who can safely receive it by end of day Thursday.
Storms struck the region Tuesday, Aug. 11, and again Wednesday, Aug. 12, knocking out electricity to more than 261,000 Duke Energy customers. By Thursday afternoon, crews had restored roughly 85% of those outages, or about 222,653 connections.
Duke Energy deployed more than 2,000 lineworkers, tree trimmers and support personnel to the region, including crews from Indiana and the Carolinas, WLWT reported. That's up from the 1,000-plus out-of-state workers reported earlier in the week.
Second major outage in three weeks
This marks the second time Warren County has dealt with widespread power loss since late July. A thunderstorm complex on July 27 knocked out power to thousands of county customers, with a 102.4 mph wind gust recorded in nearby Middletown, as we reported Thursday.
Tuesday's storms also downed a tree that shut down I-71 southbound and triggered flash flood warnings covering Mason.
Hazardous conditions slowed crews
Duke Energy storm director Andy Cassidy said workers faced extensive damage and multiple rounds of severe weather that forced pauses in restoration work. Crews must stop when lightning and high winds are present.
"We ask everyone to please keep their distance from active work zones and our storm workers," Cassidy said in the Thursday press release. "This will ensure your safety as well as allow our storm workers to remain focused on restoring power."
Earlier Thursday morning, when 52,000 customers were still without power, Cassidy warned that outages involving broken poles, downed lines or significant equipment damage could take longer to repair.
The Duke Energy Foundation committed $100,000 in emergency grants to organizations providing food, shelter and recovery assistance across the region.
How to report outages
Residents can report outages or hazards by calling Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky at 800-543-5599 or 800-769-3766, texting OUT to 57801, using the Duke Energy mobile app or visiting duke-energy.com/outages. Intersections with non-working traffic signals should be treated as four-way stops.
