Few thousand AEP outages Saturday afternoon, high wind warning in effect
The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning Saturday morning that will remain in effect until 6 p.m. for large parts of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, including Franklin County.
A high wind warning is higher on the alert scale than the wind advisory the weather service previously issued for the area.
The warning from notes that winds are likely to remain between 20 and 30 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph possible.
On Saturday afternoon, AEP Ohio reported power outages affecting more than 8,000 customers in the Columbus area, growing from a few hundred outages Saturday morning. The utility company previously warned customers that the greatest risk for service interruptions could come Saturday.
Context: 'Another multi-day restoration event possible,' AEP Ohio warns ahead of windy weather
An estimated 125,000 AEP customers lost power last weekend due to strong winds with gusts over 60 mph in some places, taking out about 230 poles and some 2,000 spans of wire. Customers in some places like Athens, North and South Canton and Steubenville did not get their power restored until late Wednesday night — and only then with outside help provided to AEP through mutual assistance from utilities and contractors in seven states.
AEP has alerted those utilities and contractors that they likely may be needed again this weekend after storms with more rounds of high winds move through the state, particularly in the utility's Southeast District, which includes customers in Athens, Lancaster, Marietta and Pomeroy.
"Confidence is highest for another multi-day restoration event in our highly forested, more sensitive territories in southeast Ohio," AEP Ohio said Thursday in a statement.
Dispatch reporter Monroe Trombly contributed to this report.
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: High winds bring few thousand power outages so far in Columbus area
