(WJW) – Thousands of Ohioans are still in the dark after strong winds ripped through the area on Saturday.
FirstEnergy is reporting about 20,000 outages for the state Monday evening, which is significantly fewer than it was at the height of Saturday afternoon when about 152,900 Ohio Edison customers in northern and central Ohio lost power, and about 78,500 Illuminating Co. customers in Northeast Ohio lost power.
Strong winds swept through the State on Saturday. A high winds warning and wind advisories were issued for gusts up to 60 miles per hour. FOX 8 Meteorologist Alexis Walters reports gusts exceeded 70 miles per hour in Jefferson and Parma.
The Illuminating Co. posted on Facebook that crews continue to work around the clock.
The power company notes “If you received a call or text that power has been restored but you remain without service, a secondary issue may need to be addressed. We know this can be frustrating, but confirming your power is still out allows crews to continue addressing the cause of your outage.” You can report a power outage, here.
As of Monday morning, The Illuminating Company says its crews have replaced over 9,000 feet of power lines, over 300 cross arms, about a dozen utility poles and over 300 service heads.
First Energy reports that many should have power back on by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, however, some may not see power until 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
If you see downed power lines, stay away and call 911.
Counties with the most outages include:
- Ashtabula
- Columbiana
- Cuyahoga
- Geauga
- Mahoning
- Portage
- Stark
- Trumbull
- Wayne
The outages resulted in several NE Ohio schools canceling classes for Monday. Stay with FOX 8 for updates on weather and cancellations.
