CINCINNATI — A line of powerful storms left its mark across the Tri-State early Thursday morning, leaving thousands without power, downing trees and damaging property.
As of 7 a.m., over 11,000 people were without power in the Tri-State, though that number decreased to around 6,000 by 8:30 a.m. and again to around 2,000 by the afternoon.
Dearborn County in Indiana
Dearborn County Emergency Management Director Jason Sullivan said it is likely a tornado touched down in the county Thursday morning. County officials were aware of one injury but Sullivan said that person denied treatment.
East Laughery Creek Road and Cole Lane will be closed for an extended period of time because of damage to power lines and trees, Sullivan said.
Earlier in the morning, the Aurora Fire Department told WCPO 9 storms destroyed at least one house and reported minor injuries on East Laughery Creek Road.
On Cole Lane, our crews spotted trees down and damaged buildings.
Thomas Spielmann, who lives on the road, said when he heard the storms move in early Thursday morning, he didn't hear much to indicate his property would be damaged.
"Somewhere around 12:30, one o'clock, my alarm went off and said we had a tornado warning," Thomas Spielmann said. "Then the wind picked up pretty good for a little bit, not very long, maybe 15, 20 minutes, really really hard. Didn't hear any freight train sounds, anything like that, and then the power went out, and the power's still out here. And then I woke up this morning to this."
The National Weather Service announced Thursday morning that it plans to conduct a storm survey today in Florence, in addition to storm surveys they're conducting in Aurora, Indiana and in parts of Franklin County in Indiana.
Northern Kentucky
Roads were closed for hours and many remained without power in Florence throughout Thursday.
Our crews in Florence saw damaged homes and businesses throughout the city, including damaged roofs and downed trees. Big Red's Appliances on Dream Street appeared to have suffered significant roof damage, and the Rodeway Inn nearby was also damaged.
Utility poles were broken along Industrial Road, causing the Boone County Public Safety Communications Center and Boone Center to lose power; the outages also impacted telephone lines.
The Florence office of the Boone County Clerk's Office will be closed Thursday because of storm impacts; the Burlington location is open and available to those who need services.
The City of Florence said the city's water tower also temporarily lost power, causing water to discharge through a relief valve, as it was designed to do. The city said the storm caused an "overflow event" at the water tower.
Damage has been reported throughout Florence, including Dream Street, Lee Drive, Preakness Drive, Circle Drive, Locust Street, Melinda Lane and S.t Jude Drive, among others, the City of Florence said.
Bill Bertinot, a resident of Burlington, Kentucky, described a circular motion outside his home at approximately 12:45 a.m., shortly before storms downed a tree in his yard on Micah Court.
Franklin County, Indiana
In Franklin County in Indiana, our crews found several trees down on homes and vehicles, and several homes around Drewersburg Road had serious roof damage.
Ray Thaler, who lives in the area, told us around 15 to 16 trees came down in his yard, and winds tore part of the siding off a barn on his property. He said he also learned one of his neighbors had to be rescued from her home by fire crews.
Still, he said he feels lucky, because his property wasn't hit nearly as badly as his neighbors.
"We looked and there was damage everywhere," Thaler said. "That house back there's flattened, a friend's of ours a couple doors down, their house, their cars — everything just was destroyed. And it was so close to our house, it hit our back property and all our woods."
In Maysville, Ky., a shopping center appears to have been hit hard. Our crews saw mangled Kroger cart returns in the parking lot, and chunks of the complex's roof had been blown off in the storm.
Nearby, a hardware and lumber store was seriously damaged and without power. Still, our crews found the store was still open so others could come buy supplies for their homes, despite the damage to their own building.
Clermont County
In Clermont County, communities around Stonelick Creek grappled with a different kind of threat: flood waters.
Flash flooding developed overnight as several inches of rain fell during the storms, and homes near the creek were flooded when the creek burst its banks. We found residents cleaning up mud and standing water Thursday morning after the storms.
WATCH: WCPO spoke to one Stonelick Township resident dealing with flooding after the storms
