Tropical Storm Helene brings severe weather to Highland County
The high winds caused damage in parts of the county, including to these trees pictured in Hillsboro. (Photos courtesy of Pat Lawrence)
Tropical Storm Helene brought strong winds, power outages in parts of the county and much-needed rain (but also flash flooding) to Highland County Friday, Sept. 27, with rain expected to continue over the coming days.
According to the National Weather Service, as of 11:22 a.m. Saturday, Highland County received as much as 3.4 inches of rain in some areas. Highland County was not listed on the highest wind gust reports, but neighboring areas were, with Wilmington Air Park receiving the highest reported gust Friday afternoon at 3:53 p.m. with 67 mph winds.
Other area wind gusts reported included Chillicothe (56 mph), Fayette County Airport (51 mph) and Ross County Airport (48 mph).
As of Saturday at 4 p.m., AES Ohio is reporting 436 Highland County customers without power, while AEP Ohio said there is a small number of their customers without power in the area.
According to the National Weather Service, “Post-Tropical Cyclone Helene continues to weaken and dissipate by Monday. The system will produce moderate to heavy rain over parts of the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys, portions of the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic States, and along its southeast periphery in Florida into Monday. A Marginal Risk (level 1/4) of excessive rainfall continues over parts of these areas. The associated heavy rain could create isolated areas of flash flooding.”
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