PREBLE COUNTY — All five Preble County school districts canceled classes on Thursday, Nov. 15, due to Mother Nature’s first ice storm of the season.
At press time, trees and wires in many parts of Preble County were weighed down with up to a quarter-inch of ice, and crews were out cleaning up fallen branches and working to restore any electricity outages.
Based on a “special weather statement” issued Thursday, snow was expected to return late Thursday afternoon, with heavier snow at times and light accumulation possible throughout the evening.
At 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dayton Power & Light officials said in a press release more than 67,000 customers had been impacted by outages caused by the morning ice storm. Approximately 19,000 customers remained without power that afternoon, with over 1,500 of those in Preble County .
Officials expected the power outage numbers to increase, as they were receiving “more than 100 outage calls per hour.”
“Safety is our top priority,” a DP&L press release noted.
DP&L provided the following safety tips when dealing with downed power lines:
•Stay away from downed lines and report them to us. Keep kids and pets away until crews can make the area safe.
•Make arrangements to enable your emergency backup plan. Check on elderly family members and neighbors and help them make arrangements.
•If you are using a generator, follow the instructions in the owner’s manual and ensure you have proper ventilation.
•Keep your refrigerator and freezer closed, and make plans to keep temperature sensitive medicines and food on ice.
The early winter storm was expected to shift north and impact northeastern portions of the country into Friday. In Preble County temperatures were forecast to climb back near 40.
Saturday was expected to be mostly cloudy and chilly, with a high near 43.
