Power Outage in Parkersburg, WV

Throughout Wood County, over 45,000 homes lost power as the result of downed trees and power lines.

A tree fell onto power lines along Windy Bush Road outside of Eaton.

A tree blew down onto Atkinson Road. Multiple power outages also occurred.

Several trees were downed in and around the city of Parkersburg. A power pole was also snapped.

Strong wind gusts caused windows to blow out in a residential home in the town of Mineral Wells. Trees were also downed onto power lines near Parkersburg.

A tree fell onto a power line, knocking it down.

Severe trees were blown down. There were also isolated power outages due to downed lines.

Gusty winds downed a power line at the intersection of 16th and Race Streets.

Gusty winds downed a power line along Point Drive.

Power lines were down from fallen tree branches. A transformer blew out during the storm.

Straight line winds caused trees to fall onto power lines and houses. The Washington Bottom area was hit hard. A teenage girl was hit by a fallen tree branch in the City Park for Parkersburg. She had minor injuries. It was observed that most of the old large trees that fell in the park had extensive rot within their trunks. ||Around a dozen homes had some degree of damage, mostly to their roofs. Power outages were widespread. Some residents were without electricity for 4 days. At least one vehicle in the Washington Bottom vicinity was smashed by a fallen tree. ||Embedded microbursts occurred in the Washington Bottom area. The straight line wind damage continued with scattered wind damage into the city of Parkersburg.||One concentrated microburst was mostly confined to a wooded residential lot across from the Washington United Methodist Church on DuPont Road. Many large tree trunks and large tree limbs were snapped. It is in this vicinity that a maximum wind gust around 95 mph was estimated. Another concentrated area of tree damage was around the intersection of Riverview Drive and DuPont Road. Trees tops were snapped off. There were 2 wooden phone poles that were snapped off close to the ground. However, some wood rot was observed within those poles. Winds of 70 to 75 mph were estimated around the City Park in Parkersburg. Several of the large trees within the park had extensive wood rot. Six residents stayed at a Red Cross shelter set up in the South Parkersburg Baptist Church.||Prior to crossing the Ohio River, this same storm caused tree damage in the Little Hocking vicinity of Ohio.

Straight line winds caused trees to fall onto power lines and houses. The Washington Bottom area was hit hard. A teenage girl was hit by a fallen tree branch in the City Park for Parkersburg. She had minor injuries. It was observed that most of the old large trees that fell in the park had extensive rot within their trunks. ||Around a dozen homes had some degree of damage, mostly to their roofs. Power outages were widespread. Some residents were without electricity for 4 days. At least one vehicle in the Washington Bottom vicinity was smashed by a fallen tree. ||Embedded microbursts occurred in the Washington Bottom area. The straight line wind damage continued with scattered wind damage into the city of Parkersburg.||One concentrated microburst was mostly confined to a wooded residential lot across from the Washington United Methodist Church on DuPont Road. Many large tree trunks and large tree limbs were snapped. It is in this vicinity that a maximum wind gust around 95 mph was estimated. Another concentrated area of tree damage was around the intersection of Riverview Drive and DuPont Road. Trees tops were snapped off. There were 2 wooden phone poles that were snapped off close to the ground. However, some wood rot was observed within those poles. Winds of 70 to 75 mph were estimated around the City Park in Parkersburg. Several of the large trees within the park had extensive wood rot. Six residents stayed at a Red Cross shelter set up in the South Parkersburg Baptist Church.||Prior to crossing the Ohio River, this same storm caused tree damage in the Little Hocking vicinity of Ohio.

Trees were blown down onto power lines.

Trees fell onto power lines.

Several trees fell onto power lines. A tent collapsed near the Washington Dupont Plant.

The tornado first touched down along Raymond Street near Lubeck. Several homes were damaged here, including a brick garage, which had its roof thrown a couple hundred feet into neighboring homes. The tornado continued northeast along Smitherman Road, where it intensified to F2 strength. Eight homes were damaged at his time, including 2 homes with their roofs lifted off and thrown several hundred feet. More homes were damaged as the tornado cross Lake Washington Road. One resident took shelter in a basement bathroom. When she opened the door after the storm, there was nothing but daylight. Six RV trailers were overturned at a dealership. The tornado crossed White Acres Road damaging 6 homes. One attached garage was ripped away from a house. The tornado weakened as it crossed Route 892. Trees were mangled near Jewell Road. The storm crossed Island View Drive, but no houses suffered any significant damage. All total, on the order of 30 homes and a couple of businesses sustained damage, with a half dozen homes destroyed. About 15 power poles were snapped. Luckily, no fatalities or injuries occurred.

Large trees and power lines were blown down.

Warming temperatures and periods of sunshine on the afternoon of May 3rd aided in shower and thunderstorm development ahead of a cold front. Strong to severe storms passed through northern West Virginia that evening, with damaging wind gusts causing numerous downed trees and power lines across the area.

In the wake of a strong cold front, associated with a strengthening low pressure system, wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph were widespread. A gust to 55 mph was measured at the airport near Buckhannon in Upshur County. Damage was mostly from fallen tree branches, such as power outages and houses struck. In Marlinton of Pocahontas County, the wind did blow a portion of the elementary school roof off. Yet, there were no injuries. A business in Cowen of Webster County also had some roof damage.

A large cluster of thunderstorms formed along a strong east to west frontal boundary in Ohio. The storms then dropped southeast into West Virginia during this Friday evening. Fallen trees and large branches caused widespread power outages.