High Winds Leave Fallen Trees, Downed Lines And Scattered Outages Across Westerville
High winds that tore through Westerville on Friday left a trail of fallen trees, downed power lines, blocked streets, and darkened traffic signals, with residents across the city saying by day’s end they were aware of storm damage close to home.
Police, fire, and utility crews responded to storm-related problems throughout the city as trees fell near homes, across roadways, and into utility lines.
On Cooper Road south of Schrock Road, a tree was left leaning over the street, held aloft by American Electric Power lines. Westerville police closed the road in both directions while officers handled traffic control around the hazard.
Near East College Avenue and Vine Street, one tree fell between two houses, underscoring how close the damage came to residential property. On Hempstead Road near the entrance to Inniswood Metro Park, another tree blocked the roadway as Westerville police secured the scene.
At Highlands Park, an AEP line fell across the park entrance, where a Westerville Electric Division worker surveyed the damage before AEP was notified. The cable sparked a small grass fire near the wetland, but the fire department quickly extinguished it.
Elsewhere, a pine tree in the median on Spring Road, just north of Schrock Road, was blown over but did not pose a traffic hazard. At Sunbury Road and Central College, officers directed traffic after storm-related outages knocked out the signals. On County Line Road just east of State Street, a fallen tree blocked the roadway until a passing fire truck stopped to help clear it with a chainsaw.
By early evening, power outages remained scattered across Westerville, with isolated outages and several larger clusters affecting customers across the city. The extent of the damage also slowed Westerville Electric Division’s normally fast restoration work.
In a 4:28 p.m. social media update, the city said crews had found 14 broken cross arms on Spring Road between Walnut Street and Schrock Road and warned repairs there could take up to 12 hours, far longer than a typical restoration.
The strain on emergency responders was also evident in Westerville Fire’s dispatch traffic, where a LiveCAD screen (above) that typically shows only a few listings showed a steady flow of storm-related calls. Among the most serious incidents was a downed power line in Blendon Township, where Westerville provides fire service, that ignited several brush fires threatening a single home at the end of a narrow driveway. Radio traffic indicated crews briefly struggled with the water supply at the location because there was no nearby hydrant, before additional vehicles were brought in to supply water and connect to the nearest hydrant. No report yet of the amount of damage to the home.
As winds eased later Friday, the city’s focus shifted from immediate response to cleanup and recovery, with crews working to clear debris, secure hazards, and restore normal conditions.
The Westerville News is a reader-supported publication by Gary Gardiner, a lifelong journalist who believes hyper-local reporting is the future of news. This publication focuses exclusively on Westerville—its local news, influence on Central Ohio, and how surrounding areas shape the community.
Reader funding, including subscribers, protects editorial independence, so coverage is guided by journalists rather than owners or corporate profit goals. It also reduces pressure to chase clicks, letting the newsroom focus on stories worth readers’ time. And it helps keep the site accessible to everyone, including people who can’t pay or live in places where a free press is under threat.
Explore more hyper-local reporting by subscribing to The Hilliard Beacon, Civic Capacity, Marysville Matters, The Ohio Roundtable, Shelby News Reporter, This Week in Toledo, and Into the Morning by Krista Steele.
