Power outage update: Some FirstEnergy customers no power til Friday
Some FirstEnergy customers without power may have to wait until Friday to get their electricity restored.
The Cleveland office of the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touchdown in Richland County.
Cleveland meteorologist Keith Jaszka said today an EF1 tornado touched down in Richland and Ashland counties at about 11:33 p.m. Monday. It started three miles north of Butler in Richland County and ended four miles south of Perrsyville in Ashland County.
The estimated maximum wind was 105 mph, Jaszka said.
The maximum path width was 100 yards. And the damage path width was 5.8 miles, the meteorologist added.
FirstEnergy spokesman Lauren Siburkis said, "We expect to have the majority of affected customers back up and running by late this evening (Thursday), but some customers in the hardest-hit areas could be without power until tomorrow (Friday)."
"We have more than 200 contractors and crews from our sister utilities assisting with restoration to help fully restore power to the area as quickly and safely as possible," she said Thursday morning.
More than 54,000 FirstEnergy customers go dark because of storm
FirstEnergy utility personnel have been working through the extreme heat to restore power to more than 54,000 customers impacted by the storms that hit its service area this week.
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Siburkis said they continue working around the clock to restore service to about 12,000 customers who remain without power in parts of Richland, Ashland, Morrow and Marion counties.
"At this stage in the restoration effort, crews are addressing many localized issues and restoring power to hundreds of individual customers. This requires crews to travel to each individual location to make repairs, which is the most time-consuming, labor intensive and complex part of restoration," she added.
As high temperatures continue to impact FirstEnergy's service area Thursday, the company is encouraging customers to take any necessary steps to stay safe, including seeking cooling shelters to escape the heat. Customers who are without power can pick up free water and ice at Clear Fork High School (987 OH-97, Bellville) Thursday, while supplies last, Siburkis said.
"We remind the public to stay far away from downed or low-hanging lines and treat any wire as energized and dangerous. Never pull tree limbs off power lines or enter areas with debris or downed trees, as downed power lines may be buried or hidden in wreckage," she said.
"We appreciate our customers’ ongoing patience and support as our crews continue working through difficult conditions to restore power to all customers," she said.
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Twitter: @LWhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Hardest hit areas could be without power until Friday, company says.
