Ohio village misses trees 6 months later

MOSCOW, Ohio (AP) — Six months after a tornado ripped through Moscow, the southern Ohio river village’s residents are rebuilding, and replanting.

While there is a long way to go for recovery, there are encouraging signs. Houses are being rebuilt, roofs are being replaced, and an old iron bell is back into the steeple atop the Moscow Church of God. Street lights are back on and much debris has been cleaned up from the March 2 storm that damaged most of the village and killed one Moscow resident.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that there also is an effort under way to replace the many trees that were blown down. The Replant Moscow project is working with experts from the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Zoo.

Besides the still-evident building damage, Moscow residents say the storm’s legacy is noticeable with the trees missing, some of them hundreds of years old. That makes wind storms more intense and also the sounds of the Ohio River traffic louder. The lack of the tree canopy over town kept the summer hotter with shade missing.