Severe thunderstorms and lightning that moved across Greater Cincinnati just before dusk Tuesday caused scattered power outages, tripped numerous fire alarms, knocked down trees and disabled pole transformers.

        There were no reports of any storm-related injuries.

        Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. said preliminary estimates showed 0015,000 to 20,000 customers lost power during the storm.

        “We had a lot of lightning strikes,” said CG&E spokesman Dave Woodburn.

        “Tons of it, trees and wires (down),” reported a busy dispatcher for the Clermont County Sheriff's Office.

        Damaging winds knocked down trees and wires and “took the roofs off some out buildings” on the north side of Hillsboro, said a Brown County Sheriff's Office dispatcher.

        A Warren County dispatcher said there were reports of trees down and power outages through the county, but “nothing major.”

        The National Weather Service said Lunken Airport recorded strong winds as high as 48 mph. Winds need to reach 58 miles per hour to be considered severe by the weather service.

        Butler, Warren, Adams and Highland counties were placed under severe thunderstorm warnings, with Warren County also under a flood watch after as much as 3 inches of rain fell in spots by 9:30 p.m., with another inch predicted.

        A tree crashed into a house on Stanton Avenue in Terrace Park, another tree hit a house on Peabody Avenue in Madisonville, and part of Beech Street in Mariemont was blocked by a downed tree.

        Downed wires were widespread, and Miami Township in Clermont County asked for help.

        The storms, accompanied by frequent lightning, moved from the west through Indiana, Butler and Warren counties, then swept into Clermont and Hamilton counties and into Northern Kentucky.

        Mr. Woodburn said the power outages were over a widespread area that followed a line starting north of Middletown, going down through Mason, Blue Ash, Montgomery and Loveland.

        Other communities where there were power outages include Springboro, Pisgah, Lebanon, Franklin, Monroe, Oxford and Greendale, Ind.

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