On Tuesday night, Clinton County found itself under the threat of severe weather as two tornado warnings were in effect throughout the area, originating from neighboring Warren County.
Thomas Breckel, director for Clinton County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), provided insight into the events.
“We had two tornado warnings last night, both originated out of Warren County and passed into the eastern border area of Clinton County,” Breckel said. “The first was west of Clarksville and was radar detected, to include a debris ball to indicate it was sending debris aloft.”
The warning was issued at 10:23 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7. Initial damage was observed at a local tree farm situated on the Clinton County/Warren County line on US 22/3. The impact was primarily on trees, with some debris causing minor damage to nearby homes.
Locations affected by the first warning included Wilmington, Clarksville, Cuba, Ogden, Oakland, Kingman, Interstate 71 at US Route 68, Cowan Lake State Park, and Burtonville. This also encompassed I-71 in Ohio between mile markers 43 and 53.
“The second warning occurred west of Pansy, north of Blanchester,” Breckel said. “This one appeared to be smaller in scale.”
Issued at 10:27 p.m., the warning resulted in tree damage at two residences in the unincorporated area of Pansy on SR-133, just north of Blanchester.
Further complications arose with power outages affecting approximately 844 customers, with 544 from AES and 300 from BPA. Breckel expressed gratitude that the community largely avoided more significant damage.
“Living in an agricultural community means there’s plenty of land set aside for crops. In a denser community, there would have been more damage and outages,” he remarked.
Residents are urged to stay vigilant and monitor weather updates. To view a full list of the warnings and watches issued for southwest Ohio, visit www.cc-ema.org
