WHEELING, W.Va. — Thousands of residents in Wheeling remained without power on Wednesday and continue to clean up from what the National Weather Service Pittsburgh is describing as a ‘severe straight line wind event’ on Tuesday.
The storm event, with estimated winds of 70mph, rolled through a direct path of downtown Wheeling into the center of Ohio County around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday, leaving more than 15,000 Appalachian power customers in the county without power at the storm’s peak. As of midday Wednesday, more than 8,000 Appalachian Power customers in the county remained without service.
The destruction left behind by the system resulted in Gov. Jim Justice declaring a State of Emergency for Ohio County on Wednesday afternoon.
Most of downtown Wheeling remained in the dark as of midday Wednesday which resulted in City of Wheeling offices and the Ohio County court system being closed for the second straight day. Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott lives in downtown and recalled the storm event to MetroNews.
“My wife and I were both awakened around 1 in the morning. Lightning was going off about every second. With the wind speed, I could feel the windows throughout the building rattling. It was a very different level of intensity,” Elliott said on Wednesday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline.’
Elliott noted that several substations were taken out, causing many outages including the one that services Wheeling Hospital.
“That is a top concern for everyone right now. Of course, the hospital has a generator but it’s not a good situation for it to not be fully powered,” Elliott said.
The hospital sits close to Wheeling Park — an area that seems to have been impacted the most. Herb Faulkenberry, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Wheeling Park Commission told MetroNews that over 100 trees were taken down in the park alone.
Faulkenberry said the commission’s maintenance department will be responsible for clearing the trees off the roads and properties. An outside vendor may come into the park for tree removal and it could be a 30-60 day process.
“The count is above 100 for the number of trees affected. Either twisted, sheared or tipped over. It looks like a bit of a warzone,” Faulkenberry said.
He added that the damage to park properties was minimal, saying some fencing was impacted and part of the playground. The storm event had such a direct path that Faulkenberry said Oglebay Park, Wheeling Park’s sister property to the north, was not impacted.
Wheeling Park is back open after losing power Tuesday.
“By the remains of the damage, you can see the path that the wind and force took as it went through the area,” Faulkenberry said.
In a Facebook post Tuesday night, Elliott described the path of the storm as hitting “Wheeling on the southern part of Wheeling Island, tore through Downtown and East Wheeling, went over the hill and then tore through the Stamm Lane area towards Wheeling Park and Springdale.”
Elliott said it’ll take weeks to clean up around town. A liaison officer from the 1092nd Engineer Battalion of the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) will arrive Wednesday to provide assistance to Ohio County’s Office of Emergency Management in damage assessment and reconnaissance for military support.
Beginning Thursday, a team of six WVNG soldiers will be in place to assist with debris and downed tree removal.
“There were trees that crushed cars, trees that fell on homes. Huge trees, 100-year-old oaks were completely snapped off. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime, especially in a city like Wheeling where you don’t expect that type of weather,” the mayor said on ‘Talkline.’
City administration, along w/ @WheelingPolice, @WheelingFD, @OhioCountyWVEMA, Ohio Co. Commission & the 911 Ctr. continue to operate out of the Emergency Operations Ctr. The group continues to assess damage from yesterday’s storm & discuss progress being made on power restoration pic.twitter.com/uTlvULWqur
— City of Wheeling, WV (@CityofWheeling) June 15, 2022
No fatalities have been reported in Wheeling but three city firefighters were injured Tuesday morning responding to an electrical fire. During the incident on Market Street, two firefighters were treated after being shocked due to a power issue related to the storm. A third firefighter was injured from a fall due to treacherous conditions. All were taken to Wheeling Hospital to be evaluated for their injuries and all have been treated and released.
The City of Wheeling has opened WesBanco Arena downtown as a cooling station for those who have lost power. Temperatures are expected in the mid to upper 90s on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon in Ohio County.
The Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management Agency noted that the Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department and West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department are also being used as cooling stations.
If the public in Ohio County has any non-power restoration-related questions pertaining to Tuesday’s storm, they can call the Emergency Operations Center at 304-234-3820.
If there is a downed electrical line that you believe has not yet been reported, the public can call 800-852-6942.