(Photo by Jess Mancini) A utility pole on Core Road in Parkersburg was blown sideways Saturday evening during a storm. More than 1,400 utility customers were without power Sunday morning, more than 1,100 of those in Parkersburg and Williamstown, according to MonPower.

PARKERSBURG — A severe thunderstorm knocked out power for thousands in the Mid-Ohio Valley Saturday night, with outages for some lasting well into Easter Sunday.

MonPower reported 48,000 customers in West Virginia lost power as storms rolled through its West Virginia service area, affecting the Parkersburg, Sistersville, Morgantown and Kingwood areas. About 21,000 had been restored by mid-day Sunday.

Just over 1,200 customers in Wood County remained without power as of 3 p.m. Sunday, with most expected to be restored by 11, according to a representative of First Energy Group, which includes MonPower.

“There are 40-50 broken poles identified across our (West Virginia) footprint, with a significant amount of downed wires, broken crossarms and tree damage,” the spokeswoman said.

AEP Ohio reported 1,933 customers in the Marietta area without power at the height of the outages caused by Saturday’s storm. That was down to 326 by 3:30 p.m., an AEP spokesman said, with only a handful remaining as of 7.

(Photo by Jess Mancini) A branch of a Bradford pear tree at City Park was snapped Saturday evening during the storm.

Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Parkersburg lost power a few minutes before its 7:30 p.m. Easter vigil service in conjunction with Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. The service traditionally begins in candlelight, with other lights coming up about halfway through, said the Rev. Geoff Mackey, rector at Trinity.

“The whole service ended up being done in candlelight, because we had no other choice,” he said. “We and all the readers and everyone had to just belt it out without microphones. The organist switched to piano.”

The electricity was still out for the 8 a.m. service Sunday morning and the start of the 10:30 service.

“We didn’t have power until halfway through the 10:30 mass,” Mackey said. “It was a celebratory moment.”

Trees and utility poles fell around the area due to strong winds, with the highest gust reported at 72 mph in Belpre around 7:15 p.m., said meteorologist Francis Kredensor with the National Weather Service in Charleston. The initial belief is that a lot of the damage was done by straight-line winds caused by a possible microburst, he said.

(Photo provided by Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce) Parkersburg’s central garage on Camden Avenue was damaged by heavy winds during a Saturday evening thunderstorm.

Belpre Mayor Susan Abdella said there were multiple trees down around the city, including two on train tracks that hampered operations of the Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad. One tree fell onto the fence around the baseball field at Civitan Park.

“The end of one of the park shelters was torn off,” Abdella said.

The exterior of Parkersburg’s central garage on Camden Avenue was damaged “significantly,” Mayor Tom Joyce said, but there is no anticipated interruption of public works operations.

Public works crews were also called in to remove a couple of trees from city streets and firefighters helped provide safety at the scene as MonPower responded to downed power lines, he said.

Parks personnel are expected to begin the removal of some damaged trees in city parks today and Tuesday, Joyce said.

(Photo by Jess Mancini) Trees and branches blocked 26th and Oak streets Saturday evening after an intense storm. Crews had the debris cleared shortly thereafter.

Parkersburg Fire Chief Jason Matthews said no injuries had been reported as of Sunday afternoon.

(Photo by Jess Mancini) A tree on Laird Avenue near the Wood County Board of Education was toppled onto a house by the wind on Saturday evening.

(Photo by Jess Mancini) A pine tree at Worthington Golf Course is on the ground.

(Photo provided by Kevin Oliphant) Trinity Episcopal Church’s 10:30 a.m. Easter Sunday service started without electricity after a thunderstorm caused power outages around the Mid-Ohio Valley Saturday evening.