MANSFIELD, Ohio — Thousands of people are still without electricity throughout Ohio due to overnight storms that moved through the state on Tuesday, plus the extreme heat that arrived in the area on Wednesday.
FirstEnergy reported more than 55,000 power outages statewide at 5:20 a.m. Tuesday following the storm. By 11 p.m. Tuesday evening, there were still nearly 27,000 outages.
As the temperatures surged on Wednesday, FirstEnergy crews had more work to do. As of Thursday at 11 p.m., around 8,000 customers are without power.
Here are the FirstEnergy outage numbers within Northeast Ohio as of 9:45 a.m. Friday:
- Richland: 2,660
- Ashland: 1,190
In addition, Holmes-Wayne Electric reports the following outage numbers as of 9:45 a.m. Friday, according to poweroutage.us:
- Holmes: 1,854
- Wayne: 1,213
NOTE: Be sure to check back as we will update the outage data frequently
In a virtual briefing from the Richland County Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday morning, between 45 and 50% of residents in Richland County were without electricity.
"I have been in contact with the service providers and they are working diligently to get the power turned back on due to the extreme heat that we are facing," said Joseph Petrycki, director of the Richland County Emergency Management Agency.
Petrycki said they are also receiving assistance from Huron County EMA damage assessment teams, and are also receiving assistance from the Sandusky County EMA drone assessment team.
In Wayne County, Barbara Pittard, interim director of the Wayne County Emergency Management Agency, said the areas around Franklin, Wooster, and Clinton Townships were particularly impacted, and fallen trees are making it more difficult to access and repair downed wires.
"They're having a lot of issues with trees being down so they can't get to the places they need," she said. "The poles are snapped, transformers are busted open. It could be a little while right now, their status is just assessment."
A spokesperson for FirstEnergy said they have teams working around the clock to restore power to customers.
"Unfortunately this can be a very time consuming process," said Lauren Siburkis, FirstEnergy spokesperson. "We realize heat is coming tomorrow, and it's top of mind to many people, and we are working around the clock in 16 hour shifts to get all customers back up and running as quickly and safely as possible."
Siburkis said FirstEnergy has activated a storm response plan to bring in additional resources in the form of crews from Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio that weren't as hard hit.
The power outages come as strong storms impacted the region. The Holmes County Sheriff's Office issued a Level 3 travel advisory, which means roads are closed to travel by any means except for emergency vehicles as crews work to clear damage after the severe weather.
3News' Austin Love was in Wayne County early Tuesday where the Engineer's Office had posted about high water, fallen trees and downed power lines.
"All county crews are working on getting trees cleaned up and roads open, but there are several power lines down," the Engineer's Office posted on Facebook around 5 a.m.
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