Severe thunderstorms swept through Florence and Northern Kentucky on July 27, leaving 212 Duke Energy customers without power in Kentucky and nearly 15,000 across the Greater Cincinnati region.

The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, warned of wind gusts up to 60 mph and pea-sized hail as a storm complex dove south from the Great Lakes Monday evening.

Florence was among the communities named in a severe thunderstorm warning that covered Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati until 8 p.m. Monday. Covington, Newport, Edgewood, Elsmere, and Fort Thomas were also included.

The NWS issued a Special Weather Statement at 7:10 p.m. Monday for Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties, warning of potential hail damage to vehicles and wind damage to trees and power lines. The statement expired at 7:45 p.m.

Outages spread fast

Power outages across Greater Cincinnati jumped from roughly 2,000 to nearly 14,000 in about one hour Monday evening, according to the Duke Energy outage map. At peak, 281 separate outages left 14,858 customers without power across Ohio and Kentucky combined.

The bulk hit Ohio: Hamilton County lost power to 5,061 customers, Clermont County had 3,441, Warren County had 3,353, and Butler County had 2,507. Kentucky's total stood at 212 customers.

Duke Energy's outage map estimated restoration by 10 to 11 p.m. Monday. Whether all customers had power restored by that time has not been confirmed.

Duke Energy posted a statement to its outage website at approximately 8 p.m. Monday, saying crews were ready to respond as conditions safely allowed and that restoration times could be extended in the hardest-hit areas. The utility urged residents to stay away from downed power lines.

How to report an outage

Residents can report a Duke Energy power outage by texting OUT to 57801, calling 800-543-5599, or using the Duke Energy website or mobile app. The outage map at outagemaps.duke-energy.com shows estimated restoration times.