09-19-2008, 12:43 AM
Posted by Michael Sangiacomo/Plain Dealer Reporter September 18, 2008 21:45PM
Sunday night's power failure will go on the record books as Ohio's biggest storm-related blackout, FirstEnergy officials said Thursday.
The repair work was so widespread that officials worried they would run out of the yellow tape used to cordon off work sites.
About 23,000 Northeast Ohio customers remained without power late Thursday. FirstEnergy officials continued to predict that power will be restored to all customers by Sunday, a week after the remnants of Hurricane Ike swept through the state, downing trees and power lines.
"We're working as fast as we can," FirstEnergy spokesman Mark Durbin said.
About 2,800 line workers were sent throughout Northeast Ohio. Pockets of people without power are widely dispersed, Durbin said, and that complicates the effort.
About 18,000 of the powerless customers were in the Cleveland area stretching from Avon to Ashtabula. Five thousand others were in Medina, Summit and Portage counties.
Throughout the state, 551,466 customers were without power Thursday afternoon, the Public Utility Commission of Ohio said, down from the more than 1.9 million left without power Sunday.
Part of the difficulty in getting electricity restored is that in some areas, like Bay Village, Lakewood and University Heights, power lines are in residents' back yards, Durbin said.
"We can't get back there with our trucks, so it means the workers have to put on climbing boots and belts and climb up poles to work on them, which is very slow," he said.
Crews are working in areas with downed wires first because of safety concerns, he said.
Power companies from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan and other states sent equipment and workers to help in the cleanup.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/09/...ure_g.html
Sunday night's power failure will go on the record books as Ohio's biggest storm-related blackout, FirstEnergy officials said Thursday.
The repair work was so widespread that officials worried they would run out of the yellow tape used to cordon off work sites.
About 23,000 Northeast Ohio customers remained without power late Thursday. FirstEnergy officials continued to predict that power will be restored to all customers by Sunday, a week after the remnants of Hurricane Ike swept through the state, downing trees and power lines.
"We're working as fast as we can," FirstEnergy spokesman Mark Durbin said.
About 2,800 line workers were sent throughout Northeast Ohio. Pockets of people without power are widely dispersed, Durbin said, and that complicates the effort.
About 18,000 of the powerless customers were in the Cleveland area stretching from Avon to Ashtabula. Five thousand others were in Medina, Summit and Portage counties.
Throughout the state, 551,466 customers were without power Thursday afternoon, the Public Utility Commission of Ohio said, down from the more than 1.9 million left without power Sunday.
Part of the difficulty in getting electricity restored is that in some areas, like Bay Village, Lakewood and University Heights, power lines are in residents' back yards, Durbin said.
"We can't get back there with our trucks, so it means the workers have to put on climbing boots and belts and climb up poles to work on them, which is very slow," he said.
Crews are working in areas with downed wires first because of safety concerns, he said.
Power companies from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan and other states sent equipment and workers to help in the cleanup.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/09/...ure_g.html