Journal-News.com

BUTLER COUNTY — Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones urged residents not to panic and said "a lot of progress has been made" after touring the damage caused by Sunday's windstorm by helicopter today, Sept. 15.

The county remains in a Level 1 emergency and could go back to a heightened, Level 3 status when night falls, according to Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones. Gov. Ted Strickland has declared a state of emergency.

Under a Level 1 emergency, residents are asked to use caution when traveling the streets. Anyone traveling the roads for non-emergency reasons may be subject to arrest during a Level 3 emergency.

Pockets of homes and businesses across the county are regaining electricity, but most of the lights snuffed by the remnants of Hurricane Ike Sunday, Sept. 14, remain out.

Hamilton officials say 70 percent of the city is lit, and they hope to have full power restored today. In Middletown, lights are on along Central Avenue and other parts of downtown.

Countywide, there were 107,921 Duke Energy customers without power at 4:20 p.m. today which is fewer than the estimated 157,576 that were without power during the storm. Duke Energy crews are still assessing damages and nearly 604,269 of their customers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana are without power.

In Butler County, Service restoration will continue into the weekend, said Duke Energy spokesman Steve Brash.

Additional crews that were called in from the Carolinas, and independent contractors that were recalled from Texas to help deal with the hurricane's aftermath will be arriving tonight and Tuesday, Sept. 16, Brash said.

The wind caused severe damages across the region to utility poles and spans of wire and a significant change in power restoration probably won't occur until Tuesday, Sept. 16, and Wednesday, Sept. 17, said Duke Energy spokeswoman Kathy Meinke. Restoring service at individual homes that were impacted may not be complete until Sunday, Sept. 21, Meinke said.

"This is unprecedented. Monumental," Meinke said. "It's going to require everyone's patience because it is going to take time.

Communications were spotty for some wireless phone customers. Several network sites for Cincinnati Bell were running on backup generators and battery systems on Monday, said spokeswoman Lisa McLaughlin. The number of customers out of home phone service was not available, but all of the companies field technicians were out assessing damages and in some cases restoring service to homes where lines were down, McLaughlin said.

There are no official damage estimates as emergency responders are focused on the task at hand.

The sheriff's office cautions that power outages and downed lines have caused hazardous driving conditions countywide. Intersections where traffic signals are not operating become four-way stops. Fire officials cautioned residents once again to leave downed power lines alone, adding the situation could worsen as the cables go live.

The Butler County Emergency Management Agency will accept reports of damage from the recent high winds on their agency Web site at http://www.butlercountyohio.org/ema/index.cfm?page=DamageRpt_form

Reports can also be phoned to (513) 785-6353, starting Tuesday, Sept. 16, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Four fatalities have been reported in Ohio, including two motorcyclists killed by a fallen tree in Butler County, according to the Associated Press.

Sheriff's office dispatchers fielded more than 1,500 calls from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday and dispatched officers to 657 emergencies. Most were for debris and wires down, according to Sheriff's Office Spokesman Monte Mayer.

"Certainly, in my 29 years in the fire service I've never seen anything like this in the city of Hamilton or in Butler County," said Hamilton Fire Chief Joe Schute. "If you can stay at home, please do so."

Like officials at the local level, the governor's office also balked at early estimates for damage. "Most of the efforts have been on initial assessments and restoring power and proving services to hospital and police and fire departments," Dailey said.

"While we have been hit pretty hard, a lot of progress has been made already, and we will get through this," said Sheriff Jones. "There is certainly no need to panic. While crews work hard to restore power, we ask everyone to try to be patient. The Sheriff's Office and all the other local law enforcement and fire departments are working together in a united effort in the aftermath of the wind storm. With everyone's cooperation, we hope to bring everything back to normal as quickly as possible."

Bill Turner, director of the Butler County Emergency Management Agency said late last night, Sept. 14, that most of the damage was concentrated in the county's western sections from Fairfield north to Middletown. Approximately 52,000 people are without power in Warren County, for example, according to Duke Energy.

When asked about damage estimates throughout Butler County, Turner said, "That's way down the road. We're more concerned with individual concerns of the folks around here to worry about the cost of it all."

The National Weather Service reports gusts of 61 mph in Hamilton County and unofficial observations of 84 mph gusts in West Chester Twp.