WELLINGTON, Ohio — A gas transmission issue in Wellington early Sunday has caused road and school closures according to authorities. On Monday, a spokesperson for Columbia Gas confirmed around 150 homes and five critical car center had their gas restored.
After hearing of the gas leak, Rhonda Largent delivered supplies to her daughter and grandchildren.
"Well when I found out that she didn’t have heat and she doesn’t have heaters, I stopped at the store and bought space heaters and blankets and whatnot," Largent said.
Residents woke up early Sunday morning to sirens and emergency lights.
"I woke up at four in the morning with a loud noise," Troy Kincer said, "But then again the tracks are right there so I just thought it was construction. Then we got woke back up at 8:00 and told to leave."
Closures
Wellington Exempted Village Schools will be closed on Monday, Nov. 18 due to the lack of heat in the buildings, according to the schools.
Police closed multiple streets as well due to the gas transmission issue.
Barker, Adams and East Hamilton streets are closed to vehicle traffic.
Restoration process
Columbia Gas originally said 1,900 customers would be without gas while they investigate.
As of 6 p.m., around 1,600 homes have had gas shut off and will not have it reconnected tonight. 85 percent of the town will not have gas through the night.
Officials said they have a crew of 53 technicians going door to door to check gas meters. Once repairs are made, crews will purge and reintroduce gas into homes, according to Columbia Gas.
Some "high-priority cases," such as nursing homes, may have gas restored to them Sunday night, according to the village.
Restoration to typical houses is expected to begin Monday morning.
Warming centers
Work to set up warming centers is currently underway. Police said they eventually hope to open Town Hall as a warming center, but are waiting for gas to be restored there first.
For information on warming centers, call the Wellington Police Department at 440-647-2244.
