By JARED ORZOLEK and
JENNY DERRINGER
crescent@crescent-news.com

Wind gusts reaching 50 miles per hour and heavy rains Wednesday have caused flooding and power outages throughout northwest Ohio.

The National Weather Service's (NWS) northern Indiana office, which serves northwest Ohio, issued flood warnings for Paulding and Putnam counties near the Auglaize River, the Blanchard River near Ottawa and the Maumee River near Defiance and Napoleon.

High water closed a number of area roads and flooded Kingsbury and Pontiac parks in Defiance, but was not the only storm-related issue with which area residents are dealing.

A Toledo Edison spokesman reported that 1,500 customers were without power due to downed lines from high winds and tree limbs.
Approximately 58 scattered outages were reported in Defiance this morning.
Crews were expected to have power restored by 1 p.m. today.
American Electric Power of Ohio also reported numerous power outages in its service area. Paulding had approximately 90 customers without power this morning while 255 Ottawa customers were in the dark due to the high winds overnight. All service was expected to be restored by midnight.

A Paulding-Putnam Electric Cooperative spokesman reported 567 outages overnight in the areas of Miller City, Columbus Grove, Latty and Cecil, with the majority of service restored by this morning. A handful of outages remained as of 8 a.m. today.

Tricounty Rural Electric reported four outages in Fulton and Putnam counties, and power had been restored to all customers.
North Western Rural Electric Cooperative reported scattered outages occurring around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday due to winds. This affected service to approximately 150 customers from Pioneer to Hicksville.
With melting snow from last week and additional rain, ice on area rivers began breaking up and moving downstream, and the rivers began rising above their banks.

According to the NWS, the Auglaize River at the Power Dam south of Defiance rose to 20.47 feet at 6:30 a.m. today, just below the flood stage of 21 feet. The river was expected to crest at 21.3 feet today.
NWS reported that the Maumee River in Defiance was at 13.17 feet at 6:15 a.m. today, with flood stage at 10 feet. The river was expected to crest at approximately 14 feet later today.

Downstream in Napoleon, the Maumee River was at 13.27 feet at 6:45 a.m. today, above the flood stage of 12 feet. The waterway should crest around 14.1 feet later today.

In Williams County, the NWS reported that the St. Joseph River near Montpelier was at approximately 13 feet early this morning, above the 12-foot flood stage. The river was expected to crest around 14.3 feet on Saturday.

The Tiffin River in Stryker had also risen above the 11-foot flood stage, reported the NWS. The river level was at 13.88 feet at 5 a.m. today.
The Tiffin River should crest around 15 feet on Saturday.

The rising rivers, creeks and ditches caused a variety of roadways to be closed, or posted with high water warnings.

In Defiance County, high water was reported on Hammersmith Road, near Ohio 111; Dohoney Road, south of Ayersville Avenue; Harris Road, near the Defiance/Putnam county line, and County Road 424 at Overly Road.
Ohio 18 at Cicero Road was reported closed this morning in Defiance County, according to the sheriff's office.

In Henry County, trees were reported to have fallen in the roadways on Harrison Township Road O-3, County Road X, north of U.S. 6, in Ridgeville Township and at 602 East St., Liberty Center.

Also in Henry County, County Road 7, between County Roads M-4 and M; County Road P, between County Roads 6-A and 7; and Ohio 424, between County Road 17-D and the Defiance County line were reported closed overnight, according to the sheriff's office.

In Fulton County, U.S. 20-A, east of Delta, was closed overnight, but re-opened this morning, according to the sheriff's office.

In Williams County, County Road N, between Ohio 375 and County Road 4, was reported closed.

In Paulding County, the water was rising in the southern part of the county this morning, according to the county engineer's office.
County Road 123, between County Roads 81 and 72; County Road 107, between County Roads 60 and 72; and County Road 60, east of County Road 177, were reported closed.

Numerous schools were also on a two-hour delay this morning. They included Holgate Local, HOPE, Napoleon Area and Patrick Henry Local in Henry County; and all schools in Paulding County.

Closed was Independence Education Center, rural Defiance.

The NWS reports that areas of drizzle were expected today, followed by sunny skies Friday before a chance of snow arrives Saturday.