MERCER COUNTY, Ohio (WLIO) — Officials have determined Thursday night's severe weather in Mercer county was caused by straight-line winds.Â
The National Weather Service confirmed this evening that straight-line winds reaching up to 90 miles per hour swept through Mercer county just after 11:30 Thursday night, leaving a widespread path of damage.
Snapped trees, downed power poles and structural damage were reported throughout the area. A portion of U.S. 33 was closed for several hours, and some customers remained without power through Friday afternoon.
Mercer County Emergency Management Agency Director Chad Willrath spent Friday morning surveying damage alongside the National Weather Service as crews worked to determine what caused the destruction.
"We know it was some type of wind event, but that's up to them to make that determination," Willrath said. "We're also looking at damages to see if anybody needs assistance. We did have a couple people reach out to the American Red Cross for some assistance there. As you get through town, there's power outages, there's some poles down, the city crews are working on that, trying to get power restored."
One of the hardest-hit areas was East Market Street in Celina, including Lester's Tobacco Shack. Brian Ramsey, the owner's son, said the damage is significant but manageable.
"We got to it about 6 o'clock this morning and found out the window was broken, and tiles inside were all destroyed. The roof is peeled back," Ramsey said. "I think we'll get past it. We'll be all right. Once it's fixed, we'll move on."
Mercer County Sheriff Doug Timmerman is asking drivers to slow down and give utility and cleanup crews plenty of room to work as recovery efforts continue through the weekend.
