FAYETTE COUNTY, Ohio — Fayette County has started its recovery process after being impacted by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which brought widespread wind, rain, and flooding to the region. The storm, which moved through the southern Ohio Valley on Friday, caused significant damage, leaving over 2,500 local residents without power at its peak and causing widespread hazards across the county.

At the peak of the storm, 2,500 Fayette County residents experienced power outages, according to Fayette County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Melissa Havens. By late Friday night, that number fell to 1,600, on Saturday morning it was at 1,200, then 1,000 at noon, and the number kept declining throughout the day. On Sunday, the number was down to 200 and as of Monday morning it was at 71.

The restoration process was lengthy due to the sheer volume of outages, which included a lot of tree issues. If a crew responds and there are tree issues, they have to call in the tree crew to come before they can begin working.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Wilmington, Hurricane Helene’s remnants produced wind gusts in excess of 60 mph across the region, with Fayette County recording wind gusts of 51 mph.

“Those winds coupled with the saturated ground caused many trees to be uprooted,” Havens said. “It was an abnormal night for mother nature, for sure.”

In some areas of south-central Ohio, rainfall exceeded 4-6 inches, leading to flash flooding and several instances of road closures.

“On a conference call (Monday) morning, the National Weather Service stated they had report from a weather spotter in Fayette County of six inches of rain over the event from Friday into Saturday,” Havens said.

Local first responders worked tirelessly through the night responding to many incidents. There were multiple reports of trees down and wires down throughout the county, as well as construction barrels and signs blowing onto Interstate 71.

“The storm response Friday night was a perfect example of how well our local first responders work together,” said Fayette County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Andy Bivens. “It was just great teamwork between local law enforcement, fire and EMS, as well Fayette County EMA helping to coordinate the response.”

Thankfully, no injuries were reported from the storm, according to FCSO.

“The Jefferson Township Fire & EMS Facebook page, Jefferson Township Fire & EMS staff, consisting of volunteers, full-time, and part-time personnel, demonstrated exceptional responsiveness yesterday. Handling 24 calls for service within 24 hours,” the Jefferson Twp. Fire Facebook page states. “At one point, the department had 5 crews operating simultaneously on different scenes throughout the township. The final call of the shift was a working fire that was quickly extinguished. We acknowledge our members’ efforts and appreciate the community’s continued support. We would also like to extend a huge thanks to the FCSO dispatch center for their vital role in yesterday’s operations. Our sympathies are with those affected by these storms throughout the country.”

Havens also thanked the local pizza places that provided food for the first responders.

“I am grateful and thankful to the pizza places – Domino’s, Donato’s, and SuperSport – were all able to donate pizzas for WPD, WCH FD, and FCSO that evening. Nights like these, they don’t have time to get dinner. They are lucky to grab a few bites in between calls,” she said.