COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Hallowe’en storm that lashed central Ohio with winds as high as 49 mph and spawned four tornadoes, including one in southern Franklin County, knocked down trees and power lines and chased tiny ghosts and goblins from the streets.
The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF0 twister struck a mobile home community north of I-270 between High Street and Parsons Avenue, destroying three homes and damaging 27 others.
An EF1 tornado packing 95 mph winds knocked down trees near Lancaster Road two miles west northwest of Hebron.
Some costumed youngsters have braved windy weather for trick-or-treating while dozens more will wait until the weekend to do their candy collecting.
Forecasters had warned a storm system rolling into western and central Ohio would bring rain and high winds Thursday night. The city of Columbus was among at least 20 central Ohio communities that moved their trick-or-treat hours earlier in the evening and warned parents to keep an eye on the skies.
Cincinnati kept its hours the same on Thursday night, but others in that area joined at least four dozen central and northwest Ohio towns in rescheduling for Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
The storm knocked out power to thousands of American Electric and South Central Power customers, forcing the cancellation of classes in the Grandview Heights City Schools.
As of 3:00 p.m. Friday, AEP Ohio said power had been restored to more than 30,000 of the approximate 35,600 customers who lost it during the storm. Restoration for some areas is expected to continue into Saturday, the utility said.
Columbus firefighters responded to nearly a dozen reports of downed power lines and at least as many utility-pole fires overnight.
The storm was part of a system that caused flooding and other problems as far south as Texas and Louisiana.
Ten people are recovering from injuries, and others are waking up in an emergency shelter, after powerful storms raked the Miami Valley.
Trees and power lines are down everywhere, with the worst damage reported in Vandalia, where at least four buildings were damaged by a tornado and 10 people inside a Fricker’s restaurant were injured by shattered glass. Vandalia police say several damaged homes were evacuated overnight to a shelter at Living Word Church.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that a brief, weak tornado also touched down in northeastern Miami County.