A severe thunderstorm hit the Mid-Ohio Valley on Saturday night, leaving thousands without power and causing extensive damage that lasted into Easter Sunday.
MonPower reported that 48,000 customers in West Virginia lost power as the storm rolled through the Parkersburg, Sistersville, Morgantown, and Kingwood areas. By Sunday afternoon, around 21,000 customers had their power restored, but more than 1,200 residents in Wood County were still without power at 3 p.m. A representative from FirstEnergy Group, which includes MonPower, said most of these outages were expected to be fixed by 11 p.m. Sunday.
The storm caused significant damage, with downed trees, broken utility poles, and damaged wires. A MonPower spokeswoman confirmed that crews had identified 40 to 50 broken poles, as well as a significant number of downed wires and broken crossarms.
Meanwhile, AEP Ohio reported 1,933 customers in the Marietta area were without power during the height of the storm’s impact, but by 3:30 p.m., that number had dropped to 326. By 7 p.m., only a few remaining outages were reported in the area.
One of the most unexpected consequences of the storm was the power outage during the Easter vigil service at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Parkersburg. The service, which was meant to begin with candlelight and gradually light up, had to be entirely held in candlelight due to the power loss just before the 7:30 p.m. service. “We all had to belt it out without microphones,” said the Rev. Geoff Mackey, rector of Trinity Episcopal. The power was still out during the 8 a.m. service on Sunday and the beginning of the 10:30 service, but was restored halfway through.
Meteorologist Francis Kredensor from the National Weather Service in Charleston reported the highest wind gust of the storm at 72 mph in Belpre around 7:15 p.m. He noted that the damage was likely caused by straight-line winds from a potential microburst.
Belpre Mayor Susan Abdella reported multiple trees down around the city, including two blocking train tracks that interrupted the operations of the Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad. In addition, a tree fell on the fence of the baseball field at Civitan Park, and part of a park shelter was torn off.
In Parkersburg, the exterior of the central garage on Camden Avenue was heavily damaged, although there were no anticipated interruptions to public works services. Crews were quickly deployed to remove trees from city streets, and firefighters helped ensure safety as MonPower worked to restore power and clear downed lines.
Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce also noted that park personnel would begin removing damaged trees in local parks on Monday and Tuesday.
As of Sunday afternoon, no injuries were reported in any of the affected areas, according to Parkersburg Fire Chief Jason Matthews.
