CLEVELAND, Ohio – Thousands of northeast Ohioans are without electricity on Saturday after high winds on Friday knocked out power – with many facing the potential for being in the dark until late on Sunday.
Power had begun to be restored to many of the affected customers through Saturday afternoon. But FirstEnergy is estimating that thousands more might not have their power back until 11 p.m. Sunday.
About 41,400 Illuminating Company customers lost power from strong storms and high winds that hit Northeast Ohio Friday night, a spokesperson from FirstEnergy said. The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for the region on Friday, but WKYC reports that winds are expected to dissipate later on Saturday.
As of Saturday afternoon, 7,000 people across Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake Counties are still out of power.
FirstEnergy spokesperson Jennifer Young said all power is expected to be restored by 11 p.m. Sunday at the latest. She said she did not consider the estimated restoration time as a delayed response because crews are not able to safely make repairs in bucket trucks with winds over 35 mph.
“It takes time to do the restoration work,” she said. “There are 25 poles in Greater Cleveland alone that need to be replaced after last night’s storms.”
Approximately 300 FirstEnergy crews, as well as 50 crews for tree removal, were deployed Saturday afternoon to assist in power restoration.
You can keep track of FirstEnergy power outages on the company website.
Young urges residents who see downed wires to stay 30 feet away and call 911.
“Treat any downed wire like it is live,” she said.