I-75 reopens hours after lightning strike leads to knocked down power lines, OSHP says

MONROE, Ohio — I-75 has reopened near Monroe hours after downed power lines blocked the road in both directions when severe weather rolled through the area, Ohio State Highway Patrol said at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

ODOT first reported just before 6 p.m. that debris was on the road near the SR-63 exit where the Cincinnati Premium Outlets are located.

Lt. Matt Schmenk with Ohio State Highway Patrol said lightning struck power poles that hold the power lines that cross I-75. Those lines fell, blocking both northbound and southbound traffic. Schmenk said it also snapped other lines crossing the highway, which caused lines to fall on a couple of cars.

No one was injured, Schmenk said.

"This is a crazy act of nature," Schmenk said.

Gerardo Espinoza was driving home from work when he and his passenger witnessed a flash of light and a power line fall right in front of him.

"We were lucky because we had a semi behind us ... it was a strong wind that hit so hard ... we saw some kind of lightning, some kind of flash," Espinoza said.

He said he came to a stop feet in front of the downed lines, waiting hours for the road to reopen.

"This could have been maybe worse," he said. "Thank God everything went that way."

Schmenk said Duke Energy had to make sure the power lines were safe before cutting them and removing them from the interstate. A spokesperson for Duke Energy said the goal is to get power back to the customers who had it knocked out around midnight.