WILMINGTON — Clinton County was deluged with heavy rain and storms early Wednesday until mid-morning, dropping exactly 3.5 inches of rain at the Wilmington Air Park according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington — and possibly more in the Sabina area.
Although storms including hail and lightning hit Clinton County overnight, Highland County had a report of a tornado around 2:30 a.m. near Leesburg that crossed into the Greenfield area. Barns and other structures were damaged, but there were no injuries reported.
Many areas of Clinton County saw flooding creeks and roadways blocked due to high water, and many areas had flash flood watches followed by warnings.
Although the entire county got hit by the hard rains, Sabina seems to have gotten the worst of it with many reports of yards and basements flooded.
All the schools in the East Clinton Local Schools district were closed for the day, after a power outage in Lees Creek where the high and middle schools are located, and with high water in portions of the Sabina area.
When the electricity was lost in Lees Creek, East Clinton High School students assembled in the cafeteria, and the middle school students mostly gathered in a gymnasium. East Clinton Superintendent Eric Magee said the decision was made to not put the buses back out on the roads, keeping elementary-grades children home.
The power company wasn’t sure when it would get power restored to Lees Creek, so district officials decided to wait for a break in the weather and for improved road conditions and then send the high and middle schools students home.
Magee drove across the district to monitor the roadways.
“Sabina absolutely was hit quite a bit harder than the New Vienna area,” reported Magee. The district has elementary school buildings in both Sabina and New Vienna.
There were still roads flooded in the Sabina area as of mid-afternoon, according to Magee.
A stretch of Pratt Road in Clinton County was still under water in the mid-afternoon, a motorist told the News Journal.
For photographs from around the county, please visit wnewsj.com.