NEWTON TOWNSHIP — A brief, but hard-hitting storm took down trees and shut down roads on Friday evening in the Avondale area according to the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office.
The storm, which featured high winds, hail and heavy rain, ripped through the southern half of the county from the north and hit the region around 5:45 p.m.
Muskingum County EMA Director Jeff Jadwin, who spent most of Friday night and Saturday assessing damage, said he is still awaiting word from the National Weather Service as to whether the storm was another tornado — two have been confirmed in Muskingum County since April, including an F-2 on June 6 in Frazeysburg.
"(NWS) is thinking straight-line winds, but I am thinking straight line with a couple of mini-tornadoes inside," Jadwin said. "It was quite wider than the one in Frazeysburg. We got damage clear on Thompson Run, out to Stine Road, Foxfire Drive, Roberts Addition (in White Cottage). It came down and went through Avondale."
More:'The man upstairs was watching over us:' Frazeysburg moving forward following F-2 tornado
Fast and furious
A large tree was down and laying across both lanes of Ohio 93 on Friday near the Jonathan Creek bridge, and the Sheriff's Office said just before 7 p.m. that the highway was closed between U.S. 22 and Powell Drive as crews were in the area assessed damage.
A few miles south, the Roseville Volunteer Fire Department said in an 11:30 p.m. Facebook post on Friday that it responded to a scene with Newton Township Fire at the intersection of Ohio 93 and Butler Road, where it and encountered a broken power pole.
With lines hanging dangerously low, it made Ohio 93 impassable. A house adjacent to Butler also received damage after a large tree fell and created a gas leak; additionally, the roof of nearby RMX Trucking's maintenance building was gone and located some 300 feet away in a field.
A large barn was also found leveled on Yost Road, while Crock Road between White Cottage and Avondale was closed due to several trees and lines down.
Jadwin said the farthest south the damage reached was the Lambert Road area and through the neighboring forests northeast of Roseville near Swackhammer and Payne roads.
Maysville High School had debris from fallen trees scattered on its campus, while a set of bleachers on the outside of the athletic complex were found a few hundred feet away in the field near the discus pit.
Just south, multiple trees were down on Mona and Dona drives, near the Moxahala mobile home park. Crews were cutting trees all day on Saturday at various homes in the neighborhood.
Multiple fire crews assisted multiple families in the area, and a cooling station was offered on Friday evening and Saturday by Newton Fire for those without power.
According to multiple posts on Facebook, trees were also down on Darlington Drive just north of Maysville High School.
Motorists were being asked to avoid the Avondale area if all possible, but Ohio 93 was cleared for traffic late Friday once the roadway was cleared.
Power is back — for most
Around 2,150 customers in the Avondale/Darlington area remained without power as of 1 a.m. Saturday, the result of fallen trees on lines and wind damage, according to American Electric Power's outage map. That also included many businesses and homes along Maysville Pike entering South Zanesville.
Also responding were the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Aviation unit, Ohio Department of Transportation, South Zanesville Fire Department, Genesis Community Ambulance, Muskingum County EMA, the Muskingum County Engineer's Office and Crooksville Fire Department, along with multiple utility companies.
AEP and various tree trimming companies, including from as far away as Texas, were still cleaning up debris and working on cleanup as of Saturday evening, with several AEP crews parked at the Avondale Youth League diamonds to set up its base. Newton Fire kept its station on U.S. 22 in White Cottage open throughout the day as a cooling station for those without power.
Crock Road remained closed in Avondale as of 9 p.m. on Saturday as crews worked to clear lines and trim trees. The traveling crews had left after 51 trucks from various agencies were in the area on Saturday.
Jadwin said that AEP confirmed that all houses in the Avondale area that were capable of receiving electric would be retored on Saturday night, with those on Crock Road the only exception due to the density of overhanging trees on lines in the area.
"But if the meters are pulled off the house you'll need an electrician to put it back on the house, because AEP won't do it," Jadwin said. "That is what we are up against, or if us or another agency say the house is declared destroyed they won't hook power back up."
Family escapes close call
Jadwin said the only injury of which he was aware was a man in a trailer at Up The Creek Campground who received a head injury and was transported to Genesis Hospital.
But Sarah Cox, who lives off Moxadarla Drive, said in a message to the Times Recorder early Saturday that her 10-year-old daughter was almost crushed in the shower by a tree that landed on their mobile home.
"My 12-year-old son is fine," Cox said. "I am six weeks pregnant and pulled my little girls from the shower and pulled a table over us."
She said the Muskingum County Red Cross provided housing at the Baymont Inn through the weekend before arrangements could be made.
"I thank God for the gift of life for my family yesterday," Cox said.
'A rough couple of weeks'
It was the second time in eight days that the county was hit by a major storm. A recent severe storm spawned an F-2 tornado in Frazeysburg on June 6. That came after tornadoes touched down in parts of Licking, Muskingum and Guernsey counties in April.
Jadwin said that our region of Ohio has been in the firing line of a changing weather pattern. Muskingum County and the surrounding area are among many who are now under a heat advisory through next weekend.
"It has been a rough couple of weeks," Jadwin said, among many who had little sleep between the storm and cleanup efforts. "It's just a change in the El Niño (ocean pattern) moving everything. Unfortunately we get the brunt."
The storm was only part of the headache for local authorities.
Just a few miles away, a tractor trailer carrying an oversize load collided with a stopped car, sending the semi over an embankment at the intersection of Thompson Run Road and U.S. 22. It closed the roadway for part of the late afternoon.
The semi was pulled out via large tractor, with the assistance of the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Muskingum County Sheriff's Office, and Jadwin said that no injuries were reported.
"He was carrying a heavy load and just couldn't get stopped," Jadwin said, adding no injuries were reported.
Please check back for more updates as they become available.
sblackbu@gannett.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
