TUSCARAWAS COUNTY ‒ An April 29 storm that moved through the area caused widespread damage, bringing down trees and knocking out power to thousands of residents.

According to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, the roof was blown off a house by straight line winds about a mile southeast of Ragersville.

A severe thunderstorm passed through New Philadelphia, April 29.

Damage in Dover

Dover Mayor Shane Gunnoe went out that afternoon to survey the storm damage in his city, along with Safety Director Robert Everett and Service Director Dave Douglas.

“We had a significant number of trees down, starting within a couple of minutes of the storm,” he said. “The police department was flooded with calls about trees down and power out.”

City crews were out for about 7.5 hours, largely on the south side of town, dealing with problems caused by the storm. There were isolated power outages caused by trees down on lines. All power was restored by 11 p.m., he said.

A tree fell on a house on Fourth Street, and some vehicles were hit by falling trees.

Gunnoe said he was proud of the way the police, the General Services Department and the Electric Field Division responded to the storm.

New Philadelphia damage

New Philadelphia Fire Department firefighter Justin Headlyn, center, ties off caution tape after a tree fell onto a home at First Drive NE and Cedar Lane NE, April 29.

Ray Grewell, general services superintendent for New Philadelphia, said there were about 10 roads blocked by falling trees after the storm. All of them are now open.

There were also reports of siding ripped from houses.

He asked for patience while workers clean up debris, which could take several days.

AEP is reporting widespread outages around the county Wednesday morning, including 459 customers in New Philadelphia and 619 in Uhrichsville.

Due to the outages, both Claymont City Schools and Indian Valley Local Schools were closed on April 30.

Roads closed

Tuscarawas County Engineer Doug Bachman said all county roads are now open, though crews will be doing cleanup on County Road 14 and County Road 62.

No state highways were closed by the storm in Tuscarawas County, according to Lauren Borell, public information office for Ohio Department of Transportation District 11 in New Philadelphia. However, U.S. 250 was closed at two different locations in Harrison County after the storm.

The National Weather Service had numerous reports of damage throughout the area, including a roof blown off a barn five miles southeast of Carrollton. It also reported 60 roads in Harrison County were closed because of damage following the storm.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Storm causes damage throughout Tuscarawas County