Jungle Jim's in Fairfield closed today; power outage spurs need for generators, saving inventory

Jun. 14—Hundreds of businesses and residents across southwest Ohio are without power after a storm swept through the region late Monday afternoon and early evening.

Phill Adams, development director at Jungle Jim's International Market, said they don't know how long their Fairfield store will be closed, but added its inventory "is in good shape right now."

"We reacted very, very quickly last night," said Adams. "We saw it coming in. My daughter lives in Indianapolis and got the storm before us so it caught my attention. We watched it, and when it hit, the power went out. We all reacted."

Winds reached up to 70 miles per hour during the system that affected the region. At 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, more than 20 percent in Butler County were still without power. Outages were happening at a time of high heat as well — it's the first big heat wave of the season with temperatures climbing into the high 90s and feeling like they are in the 100s.

Every perishable item at Jungle Jim's was removed from the floor displays and into walk-in coolers, and some product is in refrigerated tractor-trailers. They are using generators, but Adams said it's not sufficient to keep the store open for business.

"We're good to go for now," Adams said. "I don't know how long we can go."

Adams anticipates the power will be out "for quite a while."