By Don Jovich

Record-Courier staff writer

Portage County was somewhat spared from the full fury of what initially appeared to be a violent line of thunderstorms Tuesday when the intensity of the system eased up slightly before entering the county.

Still, the thunderstorms resulted in many downed power lines, tree limbs and branches blocking the roadways.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Portage County at 5:21 p.m., noting an approaching line of thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 60 mph. The warning expired at 8 p.m.

By 5:30 p.m., Garrettsville-Freedom-Nelson firefighters were busy with downed power lines on Wheeler Road and Brosius Road in the village, along with a power outage on the east side of Garrettsville.

A representative from Ohio Edison said as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, 663 residents in Portage County were without power.

Affected areas also included the west side of Kent and other sporadic outages throughout the county.

Several lightning strikes that caused fuses to blow were the reported cause of the disruption.

The representative said crews were busy working to restore power, which he estimated would be completed by midnight.

In Freedom, the intersection of S.R. 88 and Asbury Road was temporarily closed because of downed power lines.

Firefighters in Brimfield reported a utility pole being struck by lightning near the intersection of S.R. 43 and Tallmadge Road. The incident caused a temporary power outage at the fire department, which used back-up generators until repairs were made.

Mantua-Shalersville firefighters reported receiving numerous calls of tree branches and limbs in the roadways with crews working to clear them.

In Kent, Ravenna and Streetsboro, only heavy rain and strong winds were reported. The bypass on S.R. 303 in Streetsboro, a frequent site of flooding, remained open, police said.

Windham firefighters also reported a lot of rain during the storm but no trees blocking roadways.