Severe storms swept through the Greater Cincinnati area on Tuesday, July 21, knocking out power for at least 10,000 Duke Energy customers at the peak of the system and prompting severe thunderstorm warnings across the region. Butler County, home to West Chester and Liberty townships, was within the area affected by the storm system.

Duke Energy reported the 10,000-customer outage figure Tuesday afternoon, according to WLWT. By 8 p.m., that count had dropped to at least 3,000 customers still without power. Many of the remaining outages were concentrated on Cincinnati's west side and in Clermont County.

No specific outage count for Butler County, West Chester Township, or Liberty Township has been released by Duke Energy or local emergency agencies as of Tuesday evening.

Storm severity

The Storm Prediction Center placed southern Ohio under an enhanced risk (Level 3 out of 5) for severe weather Tuesday, with damaging wind gusts exceeding 60 mph as the primary threat, according to the Washington Post.

A tornado warning was issued for Clermont County, the county immediately east of Butler County. Denise Davis, a Clermont County resident, told CNN affiliate WKRC she brought her grandchildren to the basement when the warning sounded. A tree fell onto her home during the storm; everyone inside was uninjured.

"The winds picked up, the lights were flickering and then I heard a real loud bang, which of course was the tree falling onto the house," Davis told WKRC.

Forecast and next steps

The cold front cleared the region by Tuesday evening. WLWT reported drier weather with cooler conditions is expected for the rest of the week.

No West Chester or Liberty Township fire or police agencies have released statements about storm damage or emergency response as of Tuesday evening.

How to stay safe and report outages

Duke Energy urges residents to treat all downed power lines as energized. Never touch a downed line, and stay away from flooded areas or debris that could conceal wires. Residents using generators should operate them outside only and never wire them directly to a breaker box, which can backfeed electricity onto lines and endanger crews.

Report downed lines or outages by calling Duke Energy at 800-543-5599. Track restoration progress on the outage map at outagemap.duke-energy.com.