Storm Takes Toll on Buffalo Trace Region

Storm damage across the Buffalo Trace Region on Monday and Tuesday appeared to have spared lives but gave homes, drivers, crops and trees a tough time.

In Maysville, part of a tree fell on Forest Avenue damaging a vehicle during the storms that rolled through during the afternoon.

Another tree, a large pine, was toppled on the grounds of Mason County High School. And construction barrels along U.S. 68 had to be realigned after several were moved into driving lanes by the wind.

The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, is also reviewing a video shot by a Ripley , Ohio resident which appeared to show a tornado on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River during part of the storm.

In Dover, a pine tree falling on Lucretia Street near Howard Alley narrowly missed homes and was also the cause of damage to utility lines, which continued to hang precariously over the roadway on Tuesday afternoon.

A CSX vehicle was also checking and clearing debris from train tracks east of Dover on Tuesday.

All along the storms path through Bracken and Mason counties, and on into Robertson, Fleming and Lewis counties the storm left a path of damaged and downed trees on roadways and power lines.

Flash flooding also inundated crop fields, in some places flattening crops with winds then flooding the field with muddy water.

“I am hoping the flooding is a sign the bad weather is over for a while,” said Dwaine Miller, who was checking on his cattle and crops on Tuesday in Robertson County.

As of Tuesday morning, Fleming Mason Energy reported three outages remained in Bracken County, 761 in Fleming County, 953 in Lewis County, 51 in Mason County and seven in Robertson County, with crews staging at Germantown Fairgrounds as part of organizing repair efforts.

Residents in the Minerva area reported being without power into Tuesday afternoon.

In Fleming County, flooding was the largest concern for officials on Monday, according to Magistrate John Sims Jr.

“We had a lot of flooding,” Sims said. “Other than that, there were a few small trees that fell, but no reported tree damage to houses.”

Sims said there was severe flooding toward Cowan area on Buchanan Road, where water washed away a mobile home.

“No one was in the home at the time,” he said.

The flooding also caused several pieces of farm equipment to be washed away.

According to Sims, a Ewing fire truck also became stuck in high waters, but was successfully recovered.

However, on Tuesday, during a storm that passed through the area around 5:15 p.m., the damage was far worse.

“The wind destroyed a mobile home on Cherry Grove Road,” Sims said. “Four people were injured — two adults and two children.”

Sims said county officials are unsure if it was a tornado or straight line winds, but believes it was most likely straight line winds.

“If I had to guess, I would say most likely straight line winds, because all the damage was in a straight line. However, we won’t know for sure until (Wednesday) when the weather service officials come in.”

Sims said there was also downed trees from Kentucky 11 to Wilson Run Road and a barn roof was destroyed.

In Lewis County, heavy winds caused a tree to fall on a house on Flinders Drive, off Town Branch Road in Vanceburg.

Mayor Matt Ginn said the tree grew behind the old health department and was already in bad shape when it fell across the roadway and landed on the roof of the house.

Ginn said the tree was about four to five feet off the roadway and a car could be driven beneath it.

Inside the house, the resident was asleep when the tree fell and believed he was hearing thunder, according to Ginn.

“He was asleep and thought it was just the storm,” Ginn said. “He wasn’t hurt, but there was extensive damage to the house.”

Ginn said he received the call about the tree around 3 p.m. and responded to the scene along with Tim “Dobo” Patton who works with the city maintenance department and Vanceburg Police Officer John Ferguson.

According to Ginn, they had to cut the limbs blocking the roadway.

Ginn said there were a few other trees that had fallen into roadways, but there was no reported injuries.

In Bracken County, at least two large trees were reported down, including one on Elizabeth Street near Riverside Drive which missed damaging a home by inches. Crews were clearing debris and removing the damaged trees ahead of another threat of storms for Tuesday night.

“The other half doesn’t look too good either,” said Cynthia Thompson who lives across the street from the damaged tree, noting water saturated ground was also making other trees unstable. “That one over there wasn’t leaning like that yesterday either.”

A tree downed power lines in Brooksville on Wallen Avenue, taking power out with it for a few hours.

Along Kentucky 165 in northern Robertson County at least two barns lost roofs and sustained other damage, and on Kentucky 1029, a minor embankment slip was reported in addition to a tree falling on a house in Burike.

According to Miller family members, in Burike, there appeared to be little damage to the house, with the branches missing the windows.

Power was out for a time in Kentontown and Cedar Creek, officials said.

“There is so much water in the ground there is nothing for the trees to hold onto any more,” said Diane Hardesty, Robertson County Emergency Management director. “Power was back on by about 7 p.m.”

During the storm the Robertson County Public Library was struck by lightning, forcing evacuation of the facility when a fire was discovered which damaged the mechanical room and geothermal systems of the library.

Damage was not extensive, but required temporarily closing the library and cancelation of Wednesday activities in the library.

Ironically a smokehouse safety program for children, scheduled for Wednesday, is still on schedule, in the parking lot of the library, officials said.

A carport was also reportedly tossed by the wind, along with a boat which was near the home and ended up in a hollow a distance away.

U.S. 62 was also blocked by a downed tree near Sardis.

Utility crews are continuing to repair lines, some which are also in remote sections of the region.

Officials also reminded customers to report outages to their carrier, avoid downed power lines, and use caution with candles and generators.

To view a gallery of storm photos go to: http://www.maysville-online.com