Power Still Out For 66,000 Ohio FirstEnergy Customers

CLEVELAND, OH — More than 70,000 FirstEnergy customers in Ohio remain without power, the company's outages website says. A strong winter storm moved into Northeast and Central Ohio on Thursday evening, buoyed by 45 mph to 50 mph winds. FirstEnergy is currently predicting power will be restored to most areas by 8 p.m.

The National Weather Service warned that such powerful wind gusts could mean widespread power outages throughout the region. It seems that forecast has been proved correct.

Many residents have been without power for more than 12 hours.

One of the worst hit areas is suburban Lakewood. That city has thousands of residents potentially without power, with the Birdtown neighborhood being particularly hard hit. That area has between 501 and 1,500 customers without power and they will remain without power until at least 11 p.m., according to the FirstEnergy outages map.

Outages have also been reported throughout the eastern suburbs. For instance, hundreds of residents on the north side of Cleveland Heights are currently without power. Even further out, in Chagrin Falls, there could be as many as 1,500 customers without power.

To see the outages map, and get a projected time of restored power, click here.

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