CLEVELAND — FirstEnergy says power has been restored to about 98% of residents affected by Tuesday’s storms, but more work remains.
Tuesday’s storms spawned four tornadoes, all EF-1, that ripped through various parts of northeast Ohio. At the height of the storms, more than 400,000 residents were without power throughout the region.
As of 9 a.m. Monday, more than 7,000 customers are still without power. During a press conference Monday, FirstEnergy President Torrence Hinton said that power would not be restored for many people until Wednesday evening, but it was possible that many would have power back sooner. Hinton noted that some had power back as early as Monday evening.
However, in areas with major damage, it is possible that power will be restored later in the week.
Hinton said customers will be provided with updated recovery times through their online accounts.
Hinton said more than 750,000 storm responders are working around the clock to repair the damage. Since Tuesday’s storms, Hinton said, crews have replaced more than 400 power poles, 200 remodels and enough lines and wires to cover 536 football fields.
“Our teams want to make sure we complete this mission as quickly and convincingly as possible,” Hinton said.
Hinton also urged residents to stay away from work crews while they continue their work.
“For everyone’s safety, please let our teams do their jobs and stay away from their work area,” Hinton said. Their work is dangerous and could potentially endanger the safety of others.
Hinton also reminded the public that the families of many assembly line workers are sitting at home without electricity.
In addition, Cleveland Public Power said Monday that 98% of the power outages that affected 34,000 customers in its service area when the storms passed through have been resolved. About 550 customers are currently without service.
Cleveland Public Power said more than 150 line workers, transmission and distribution inspectors, line clearing workers and more are working on restoration efforts. The company said 70 feeder lines, or circuits that provide power to entire neighborhoods, were knocked out when the storms hit.
The company’s current focus areas include:
- All remaining primary lines
- Park Grove
- Waterloo
- Glenville
- Hough
- Old Brooklyn
“The last week has been a very traumatic experience for the entire city of Cleveland,” Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin said at the press conference. “In times like these, it’s important that we work together across government and private sector partners, but it’s also important that our community sticks together.”
Griffin praised the efforts and “spirit of Cleveland” after communities came together to help each other during the power outages, including providing water and food to others, transportation and more.
Hinton noted that Giant Eagle is still distributing ice and water to residents in need. Locations can be found here.
