Mother Nature has been somewhat calm to our communities this winter. However, that came to a quick and abrupt end with Wednesday’s line of storms that wreaked havoc for many throughout Lawrence County and the region.

While the storms were widespread, the heavy rains and devastating winds caused severe damage to our infrastructure and impacted hundreds, if not thousands, of families around the county and Tri-State.

This included our roadways and homes, with flooding, and the infrastructure hit when more than 20 poles were knocked down after a tree fell onto one of the poles in Ironton.

When many of our cities and villages around the region are struggling at every turn financially to provide the necessary services to its residents, unforeseen events like we saw Wednesday can be a back breaker.

Property and infrastructure can ultimately be replaced, but making sure our friends, family and neighbors are safe is the number one priority. This was evident earlier in the week on County Road 181 (Hog Run Rd.) in Upper Township.

We commend the efforts of emergency personnel, law enforcement and the crews who worked around the clock to restore power to residents.
In times of crisis, we always band together to help others through what is undoubtedly a difficult situation.