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Morrow County officials report extensive storm damage; no serious injuries
Summary
Director Nelson told commissioners that a severe thunderstorm downed roughly 30–40 trees and caused power outages north of Sparta, but no serious structural damage or injuries were reported; county and state emergency agencies are coordinating follow-up and documentation.
Director Nelson reported to the Morrow County Commissioners on June 8 that a severe thunderstorm left dozens of trees and multiple power lines down across areas north of Sparta, but that emergency crews had not found any significant injuries.
Nelson said officials used drone photos and on-the-ground checks to document the damage and that the National Weather Service preliminarily characterized the event as straight-line winds rather than a tornado. "Every tree was laying west to east," Nelson said, summarizing the pattern visible in aerial images. He estimated "probably 30, 40 trees" down in the area, some blocking County Road 314 and briefly cutting power to neighborhoods.
The report explained why the damage mattered to residents and responders: downed lines and blocked roads required coordinated utility and fire-department responses and prompted calls to county and state emergency managers. Nelson said he had notified the Ohio EMA and the Knox County EMA to confirm whether the impacts crossed jurisdictional lines and that the county would collect the weather-service determination for records.
Commissioners heard that a tree had struck the side of a house on East Main Street in Sparta, but Nelson said "we really didn't see any structural damage" and reiterated that, "thankfully, no one was injured." He also noted brief outages in some areas that were restored by utility crews during the weekend.
The board did not take a formal action during the report; Nelson said staff would perform further field checks and would provide any follow-up notices or documentation the weather service issues. That documentation will inform any next steps for recovery or requests for outside assistance.
The county's next procedural steps, as described in the session, are staff field verification of remaining hazards and delivery of the weather-service report to county records. No requests for emergency declarations were recorded in the meeting minutes.
