Ohio Governor declares state of emergency for several counties following Debby’s destruction

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (D) declared a state of emergency for multiple counties on Saturday, after storm Debby moved through and damaged the Northeastern part of the state last week.

“This declaration of a state of emergency will give the state the ability to give these communities expedited assistance.  At the moment, we have no outstanding requests for services the State can provide to our local communities to help in the aftermath of these storms,” DeWine said in a statement Saturday.

Debby moved out of the U.S. by Saturday night, after spending days ripping up the East Coast, accompanied by flooding and tornadoes. As of Sunday morning, more than 44,900 residents in Ohio were still without power, followed by Oklahoma, New York and Vermont, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm made landfall last Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane before hitting land a second time last Thursday in South Carolina as a tropical storm, the Associated Press reported. It was downgraded to a tropical depression last Thursday afternoon and was declared a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, per the National Hurricane Center.

At least nine people have died in incidents related to Debby, mostly from car accidents or fallen trees, the news wire added.

Debby hit Northeastern Ohio on Thursday night, leaving more than 5 inches of rain in some areas over a two-to-four-hour period. Major flooding and related issues were reported, the AP said.

This followed another series of storms earlier in the week, bringing four tornadoes to the Cleveland area. The tornadoes brought down trees and power lines, prompting several power outages.

“Crews from Ohio and beyond are working around the clock to restore power to customers,” DeWine said.  “For the safety of everyone, please give the crews plenty of space do their work when they are in your neighborhood.”

In addition to the counties’ state of emergencies, DeWine said he also directed Ohio Emergency Management Director Sima Merick to ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to travel to Northeast Ohio and carry out a damage assessment.

He recommended local governments contact their county’s Emergency Management Agency Offices for further assistance.

The Associated Press contributed.