CLEVELAND — Thousands of people have lost power throughout multiple counties in Northeast Ohio as high winds hit the region Friday. Summit and Cuyahoga counties were hit especially hard with the biggest number of outages. At one point, more than 20,000 FirstEnergy customers were without power in Summit County alone.
So where do we stand right now? Here are updated outage numbers from FirstEnergy as of 5:30 p.m. Friday (impacted counties listed alphabetically):
- Ashland: 295 outages; down from 306 outages that were reported at 4:20 p.m.
- Ashtabula: 456 outages; down from 605 outages that were reported at 4:20 p.m.
- Cuyahoga: 3,617 outages; down from 4.898 outages that were reported at 3:10 p.m.
- Geauga: 1,156 outages; down from 1,364 outages that were reported at 4:20 p.m.
- Lake: 211 outages; down from 422 outages that were reported at 4:20 p.m.
- Portage: 655 outages; down from 730 outages that were reported at 4:20 p.m.
- Stark: 342 outages; down from the 770 outages that were reported at 4:20 p.m.
- Summit: 2,301 outages; down from 2,541 outages that were reported at 4:20 p.m.
Check this story frequently as we will be updating the outage numbers as updated information comes in.
The outages came as a High Wind Warning was in effect for all Northeast Ohio counties throughout the morning with gusts upwards of 60 mph. Those weather alerts have since expired with calmer wind conditions expected throughout the rest of the day.
FirstEnergy said Thursday their teams were prepared for the potential outages. Here's the statement they provided to 3News before the strong winds began:
"We are monitoring the weather and our utility crews are prepared to respond to any potential outages caused by the incoming weather. Our storm prep is ongoing throughout the year. We complete equipment upgrades, maintenance, inspections and tree-trimming work throughout the year to reinforce our electric system in advance of the spring and summer storm season."
"In addition to having around-the-clock, all-hands-on-deck coverage following severe weather, FirstEnergy also has additional resources on standby to assist our line crews with any potential outages that might occur."
How long will the winds last? 3News' Hollie Strano has the details in her morning weather forecast for March 26, 2021:
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Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published on Nov. 6, 2020.