Early winter ice storm causes outages in Darke County

0

DARKE COUNTY — An early season ice storm Thursday morning downed power lines and trees in Darke County and surrounding areas, causing school cancellations and limiting traffic.

Fire, law enforcement and utility crews battled the elements to stay ahead of the ice damage, which measured from a tenth to three-tenths of a inch. Dayton Power and Light reported “several hundred outages” in the Greenville area alone while Darke Rural Electric reported approximately 800 outages in the southern Darke County and northern Preble County area.

Throughout the Dayton Metropolitan region, more than 17,000 people experienced power outages.

Both power companies had several crews responding to the outages and said they hoped to have power restored to area residents by the end of the day.

Power was out for short time Thursday morning on Broadway, East Main Street and part of Wagner Avenue in Greenville.

All Darke County schools, including Ansonia, Arcanum-Butler, Bradford, Franklin Monroe, Greenville, Mississinawa Valley, Tri-Village and Versailles, first announced two-hour delays then cancelled classes altogether.

Conditions on rural roadways were of concern for motorists. The Darke County Highway Department had crews treating roadways at 4 a.m. and warned of black ice. Later in the morning, drivers were cautioned regarding ice accumulation on trees bringing down power lines and blocking roads.

The National Weather Service issued an ice storm warning for the entire region which lasted through noon Thursday.

WDTN Storm Team 2 meteorologists were predicting a mix of rain and snow during Thursday afternoon and into evening, with temperatures dropping into the high 20s Thursday night. Temperatures are expected to rise to the low 40s Friday with a 20-percent chance of precipitation.

A Thursday ice storm caused havoc to trees and power lines in Darke County and surrounding areas. Shown is a tree damaged by ice on North Ohio Street in Greenville.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_IMG_2133-ice-damage.jpgA Thursday ice storm caused havoc to trees and power lines in Darke County and surrounding areas. Shown is a tree damaged by ice on North Ohio Street in Greenville. Erik Martin | The Daily Advocate

By Erik Martin and Jim Comer

[email protected]

No posts to display