After a derecho tore through Greater Cincinnati on Aug. 11, residents across the region are clearing debris, assessing damage and trying to stay cool as thousands remain without electricity.
Roughly 40,000 Duke Energy customers were still waiting for power to be restored as of early afternoon Aug. 13 after the storm unleashed hurricane-force winds. Among them was 78-year-old Ruby Bowen of East Price Hill, who lost electricity and natural gas when the storm hit.
Over the course of two days without power, Bowen hoped the food in her refrigerator would survive as long as she kept the doors shut.
By 5 p.m. Aug. 13, power was restored to Bowen and her Terry Street neighbors. Before that, Bowen's home was warm and stuffy. The curtains remained drawn against the summer heat, and lunch meat was packed in an ice-filled cooler to avoid opening the refrigerator.
"God's blessed us because none of us got hurt," Bowen said.
Bowen's friend Linda Ackerman escaped the outages but not the storm's destruction.
Ackerman, 73, lives on nearby West Eighth Street, where service was never interrupted. But around 4 p.m. Aug. 11, she heard a loud crack. Her husband looked outside and saw that a massive tree had fallen onto their property.
The tree, which Ackerman estimates was about 250 years old and stood in a neighboring yard, crushed the couple's backyard gazebo and two grills.
"In the big picture, I feel blessed," Ackerman said.
None of the home's windows were damaged, but the fallen tree now dominates the backyard. Because potentially live power lines were tangled in the debris, Ackerman could not start cleanup until Duke Energy crews finished their work on Thursday.
Around 1 p.m. Aug. 13, Duke Energy trucks arrived on Terry Street. A utility worker on site said he did not know when power would be restored for Bowen and others nearby. Ackerman told The Enquirer at 5 p.m. that Duke Crews had completed their work.
"I know Duke is swamped," Ackerman said.
The storm also left a trail of damage across Northern Kentucky.
Madeline Queen, 25, said downed trees and power lines are a common sight around state Route 177, where she lives with her family in Ryland Heights. They remain without power, though a generator has helped make conditions more manageable.
As the storm raged Aug. 11, Queen sheltered in her basement with her two children while her fiancé checked for damage outside. When the danger passed, she found patio furniture scattered across the deck and her farm stand destroyed.
"I definitely cried," Queen said.
The stay-at-home mother hopes the farm stand will one day provide supplemental income for her family. Through The Backyard Queen Farm Stand, she sells homegrown vegetables, fresh eggs from her chickens, and products from eight local makers, bakers and farmers.
The stand at 3832 Stewart Drive will reopen Aug. 14 from Queen's patio while she works to replace the destroyed structure.
"I'm just glad that it was the stand and not the house," Queen said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A crushed gazebo, a lost farm stand. Cincinnati area recovers from derecho