TOLEDO, Ohio - Winds gusting over 50 miles per hour have knocked down trees and power lines across Northwest Ohio.
WTOL 11 reports Central Avenue from McCord to King roads due to downed power lines. Toledo Police are also operating under a phase two. They will only respond to injury accidents right now. Those involved in a minor crash are asked to clear the road, exchange information and file a report.
The Democracy Day meeting at One Government Center has also been cancelled. Due to the potential for flying debris, the building has been closed to pedestrian traffic as a precautionary measure. The building is safe and employees should continue to work until the end of their normal shifts. Employees will be directed to exit through protected emergency doors at the end of their work day. Visitors who are currently in the facility will likewise be safely escorted out through protected emergency exits when their business at the building is complete.
A travel ban is in effect on the Ohio Turnpike for certain vehicles. The ban runs from the Ohio/Indiana line at milepost 0.0 to the Strongsville exit at mile marker 161 and will run from noon to 5pm today.
The Turnpike is still open to most traffic, but the following vehicles have been banned because of the winds:
- All triple-trailer combination commercial vehicles
- Box-type double-trailer combination commercial vehicles in excess of 90 feet long
- Mobile home/office trailers
- Boat and horse trailers towed by passenger vehicles or pickup trucks.
- High-profile campers and enclosed trailers, which are defined as trailers designed for a person of average height to stand in.
Not included in the Travel Ban are self-propelled motor homes, low-profile trailers, fold-down camper trailers, pickup trucks with slide-on camper units, vehicles towing fifth-wheel type trailers, or any other type of trailers towed by passenger vehicles or pickup trucks. Also excluded from the Travel Ban are commercial trucks towing single flatbed or box-type trailers, flatbed double-trailer combinations in excess of 90 feet and any double-trailer combination commercial vehicles less than 90 feet.
The Travel Ban may be extended or reduced as conditions warrant.
First Energy says that more than 94,000 customers are without power because of the winds. To report an outage, visit http://outages.firstenergycorp.com/oh.html