Strong Winds Knock Out Power Across Vinton, Jackson Counties in Mid-March Storm

A powerful windstorm that swept across southern Ohio on Friday, March 13, knocked out power to more than 800 customers across Vinton and Jackson counties and left a trail of snapped utility poles, downed power lines, and fallen trees blocking local roads.

Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative bore the heaviest local load, reporting 322 customers without power in Vinton County and another 120 in Jackson County as of 3:45 p.m. that Friday. AEP Ohio reported 214 customers out in Jackson County at the same hour, while Vinton County tallied 71 additional outages from a separate service territory. South Central Power added 44 more customers without electricity, pushing the combined two-county total past 800 at press time.

The damage was visible on the ground. A massive tree branch collapsed across West Main Street near the intersection of Bridge Street in the City of Jackson, blocking the roadway entirely, as captured in a photo by Jon Neville.

The scale of the storm stretched far beyond Vinton and Jackson counties. AEP Ohio reported 258,000 customers impacted across its service area at the storm's peak, with roughly 1,500 still without power as of Monday, March 16. To accelerate restoration, AEP deployed more than 4,000 line and tree workers statewide, many brought in from outside the region, with crews working around the clock in shifts to repair damage and clear debris. Dylan Brown, AEP Ohio's central Ohio operation manager, said crews are "strategically placed throughout our entire footprint."

The prolonged outages hit some communities particularly hard. In Delaware County, residents including Katie Mathews of Shawnee Hills had been without electricity since Friday afternoon, illustrating how multi-day outages extended well beyond the initial storm window.

The wind event also raised serious fire safety concerns in southeast Ohio. The National Weather Service, in coordination with the Ohio Division of Forestry, issued a high fire danger statement citing very dry conditions and occasional gusts of 40 to 50 mph. The NWS warned that open burning of any type was extremely dangerous under those conditions. Ohio State Law already prohibits burning between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. during March, April, and May, a restriction that remained in effect throughout the storm and its aftermath.

A Wind Advisory for Jackson and Vinton counties remained active until 8 p.m. on March 13, though restoration crews continued working well past that deadline to bring customers back online across both counties.