COLUMBUS – American Electric Power says its crews are already preparing for another weather event that could knock out power to parts of the state a week after high winds turned off the lights for 125,000 Ohioans.
UPDATE: This article has been updated to include new information throughout
UPDATE 1:39 p.m.: AEP reports nearly 68,000 customers without power in Ohio, including 17,000 in Franklin and Licking counties.
Company officials say additional support has been requested additional personnel through a mutual assistance program to help with anticipated restoration operations.
The utility’s in-house meteorologists predict the greatest risk will be for wind gusts near 60 mph possible all day Saturday.
UPDATE 11:06 a.m.: The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for central Ohio until 6:00 p.m. Saturday. Winds of 25 to 35 mph are possible with gusts up to 60 mph.
There were reports of wind damage early Saturday in Dunkirk, where multiple trees were downed and a barn destroyed, Dublin, and in Union and Logan counties. A tornado warning was issued for Union County in the early hours of Saturday.
The National Weather Service says a tree was snapped off near Delaware and confirmed a tornado touched down near Troy in Miami County (new information) .
No injuries had been reported in Ohio.
AEP officials say a strong low-pressure system expected to move across the Great Lakes on Saturday is likely to cause another “highly impactful event,” particularly in southeast Ohio.
Twisters elsewhere cause damage, loss of life
Storms that spawned possibly dozens of tornadoes have killed at least 18 people (new figure) in the South and Midwest, including at a heavy metal concert in Illinois where the theater’s roof collapsed.
The dead included seven in McNairy County, Tennessee, four in the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, and three in Sullivan, Indiana.
Other deaths were reported in Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi and the Little Rock area.
Emergency responders across the region counted the dead and surveyed the damage Saturday morning after tornadoes touched down into the night.
They were part of a sprawling storm system that also brought wildfires to the southern Plains and blizzard conditions to the Upper Midwest.