AES Ohio crews remained busy in Logan County Wednesday restoring power to local residents following the overnight thunderstorms two nights prior that packed strong winds and toppled many trees in the area.
While initial power outages affected several thousand households around the county Tuesday morning, many were restored that first day. However on Wednesday, a scattered number of outages still continued to effect households and businesses around Bellefontaine and locations around the county, including Zanesfield, DeGraff, East Liberty and Indian Lake.
Neighbors on Hillcrest Drive and Brookwood Drive in the city remained without power Wednesday afternoon during the excessive heat warning. So residents were thrilled when electric crews showed up at Kandie Horton’s home with equipment and a plan to remove a tree that fell onto electric lines behind her house.
During or just after the storm, Horton said she was awakened by her dog and by a loud “whoosh” sound when the large tree came crashing into her yard from a neighboring property.
“Thank goodness it fell that way and not onto our house,” Horton said, who related that she called the Bellefontaine Fire Department right after she discovered the issue.
“The fire department arrived on scene around 2 a.m., and they said we were their 25th call that they’d taken for the storm. They checked the lines and my house and said we were safe. Now I’ve been working to get the electric company out here to take care of the tree and to restore power.”
The felled tree also affected Horton’s neighbor behind her property, Jennifer Simpson, who resides on Brookwood Drive. Simpson said the tree damaged a shed and a fence at her residence, and also and scratched her father’s car.
“We were out here moving his car once the storm had subsided. It’s been a major clean-up effort ever since then,” she said of the many tree limbs she has sawed and removed.
As storm clean up continues, city residents can dispose of yard waste at one of the city’s two compost sites, 313 W. Columbus Ave., or next to the Waste Water Treatment Plant at 610 S. Troy Road.
If you transport small debris in trash bags to the facilities, empty the debris from the bags and properly dispose of the bag through other means, city officials said.
Residents are asked and encouraged to clean up and dispose of as much small debris as possible on their own. However, for branches and limbs that are too large for residents to transport on their own, they can be placed at the curb to be picked up by the city. Call the mayor’s office at (937) 592-4376 to be placed on a list for pick up.
The city anticipates having crews available to begin collecting debris late this week and through next week. Residents are encouraged to help one another as clean up continues.
In addition to large limbs and trees down, there are large amounts of smaller debris in streets. Residents can do their part to help by clearing this debris from in front of their homes, particularly any catch basins and curb areas.
Clearing catch basins and curbs will be important in advance of more rain later in the week to alleviate any potential water problems.
“Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work to clean up and recover from this storm,” city officials said.