Raymond Butler of Hubbard’s Towing hooks up a stranded Toyota pick-up truck underneath the train trestles on Gest Street near Dalton Avenue Wednesday afternoon after high water closed a portion of the street. A motorist stalled out his pick-up truck by trying to drive through it. “I saw a bus go through, and then two cars go through, so I figured I was okay,” said David Grimm of Mason. “I guess I was wrong.” The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran
Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:
Just over 6,000 Duke Energy customers remain without power this morning after strong storms rumbled through Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Wednesday.
More storms could develop late this afternoon and early evening, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
An excessive heat warning is in effect again today for Hamilton County from noon to 8 p.m. The high temperature should reach 93 degrees with a heat index of 103, said meteorologist Allen Randall.
Elsewhere in the region, a heat advisory has been issued with the heat index expected to hit 100.
A cold front pushing into the Ohio Valley from Michigan tonight will cool the mercury a bit into the upper and mid-80s this week – more seasonal temperatures. The normal high for this time of year is 86 degrees, Randall said.
At the height of Wednesday’s storm, which saw wind gusts up to 65 mph snapping tree limbs, some 23,000 Duke Energy customers lost power as the high temperature sweltered to 97 degrees with a heat index of 105.
A tree fell at Glenway Avenue and Werk Road in Westwood. That intersection remains closed this morning until crews can clear the tree, Cincinnati police said.
Lighting also cracked down, sparking a large apartment complex fire in Liberty Township off Butler-Warren Road on Lantana Drive just before 4 p.m., according to Butler County emergency communication reports.
No one was injured, but the roof on one of the buildings did collapse, a dispatcher said.
Nearly a quarter-inch of rain – .22 inches – was officially recorded at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, although some areas in eastern Hamilton County and Clermont County saw much more accumulation, between 2 to 3 inches, said Allen Randall.
Lunken Airport in Cincinnati’s East End recorded just over an inch.
That brings the annual rainfall total to 20 inches, about 4.79 inches below normal.
