CLEVELAND — As of 7 p.m. Thursday, FirstEnergy reports 247,357 customers remain without power.
“We've restored power to more than 200,000 people already. That's a huge number, but we still have 250,000 to go," said Hannah Catlett, a FirstEnergy spokesperson. "This storm has created a historic impact on our region. We haven't seen numbers like this since 1993."
Catlett told 3News that FirstEnergy crews are working 16-hour shifts around the clock to restore power in the wake of Tuesday's storms. The masses are wondering when power will return, and Catlett said the majority will have it back by Wednesday, Aug. 14.
"I know that sounds like a long time, but a lot of customers, thousands of customers, will come on before then," she said.
She noted that their Ohio Edison customers should expect power back by this Friday, whereas most of their customers with The Illuminating Company should expect it by next Wednesday.
Catlett explained that restoration efforts have been extremely challenging, the broken traffic lights slowing down their crews just being the start of their problems.
"We've got to get the trees out of the way," Catlett said. "There are so many trees. There are more than 300 broken poles and counting."
Many vulnerable people are left in the dark as they wait for the light, such as 73-year-old Thomas Pattison who lives on the fifth floor of a Willoughby Hills apartment building that had no working elevator. As a blind man who uses an oxygen tank, he said he couldn't stay there, and firefighters helped him relocate to a hotel.
"There was no lights, no emergency lights, the place was pitch black, and of course I had no oxygen because the power was out, and I tried to get down the steps in the pitch black which is a disaster for me because I keep falling," Pattison said.
Pattison, like thousands of other Northeast Ohioans, was stunned to hear power may not return until August 14.
"I just heard that, and I go, holy mackerel!" he said in shock.
Catlett said FirstEnergy's empathizes with the customers.
“We certainly understand that it's hard to be without power," she said. "We're going through it ourselves and it's not easy and we're out there working as safely and fast as we can to get the power back on. We know that people want it and we just appreciate the patience. We just need to keep our crews safe, as well as the public, while we're getting it back on."
FirstEnergy reports that they have 3,050 power line crews working across the region and another 1,000 forestry workers cutting down trees, and they have recruited more workers from four outside states to help with this restoration effort.
In Geauga County, more than 21,000 people are still navigating life without power as of Thursday. The blackout has raised concerns for residents and their everyday living. In Chesterland, some people are now on day three without power. The lack of electricity has caused problems for both their wells and septic systems, three days after a dramatic storm swept through parts of Northeast Ohio.
"It's like living like the Amish," said Louis Gyongyosi.
Gyongyosi, now retired, spends much of his time in his garage working on his machine. Since Tuesday, he’s been using a small generator to power his home.
"I have some work to do, and I can’t do any work because there is no power," Gyongyosi said. "That’s my dilemma."
While Gyongyosi worries about his hobbies, his neighbor faces a more pressing concern.
"For three days, it’s been a lot of running places to use bathroom facilities," said Terry Slagle, who is also without electricity. Slagle, along with his family of five, is managing without power or a generator. The lack of electricity has made it impossible to run their septic system. "We’ve been hauling water to use the toilets, but at some point, the septic tank itself will not pump the overflow back, so you can only do that for so long before running into problems," Slagle explained.
Slagle remains hopeful that power will be restored soon.
"Finish the cleanup, get the branches out of the way, and maybe we can return to normalcy," Slagle said.