PARMA, Ohio — Power companies have been working around the clock since Tuesday evening to clean up fallen wires and restore electricity to more than 400,000 customers in Northeast Ohio.
In Parma and Parma Heights, severe weather snapped trees and utility poles.
“[This is the] first time I’ve seen this situation,” said Marietta Krasilnikov, who’s lived in a home on West Ridgewood Drive in Parma Heights for more than 26 years.
It’s been a historic sight for the whole neighborhood, including a dozen homes blocked by the downed wires on West Ridgewood Drive.
“It’s a hard situation for everybody. A lot of people are without power, including us. However, we’re actually trapped,” said Nancie Stamey.
The registered nurse lives in a townhouse complex across from the Shoppes at Parma and told News 5 she hasn’t been able to leave for work because the wires are blocking garages and the complex driveway. Stamey said she’s had to carefully maneuver around the mess to get food and supplies.
“I did a DoorDash and I had to get really creative,” she said. “Go through the backyard, hop a fence, go through a lot of bushes and everything.”
The Illuminating Company told Stamey the wires are not active, and crews have been working to address the situation. However, crews across the region are facing historic challenges.
“This storm is huge in terms of impact on the Northern Ohio area,” said Hannah Catlett, a spokesperson for FirstEnergy. “It’s just a massive operation.”
Catlett said more than 3,000 FirstEnergy crews and contractors are actively working to restore power. They’re working in 16-hour shifts with 8-hour breaks.
“Their own families are some of the ones without power and they’ve had to leave them in the dark to go put people’s power on,” Catlett said. “We just tell people to be patient. They’re really working hard.”
She explained the primary efforts on Tuesday and Wednesday focused on removing hazards so it was safe enough for workers to reach powerlines and poles. More than 1,000 forestry professionals have been cutting and removing fallen trees and branches.
If you’ve received notice that your electricity may not be back until Aug. 14, Catlett said it’s an estimation of when the entire service area will be online.
“Thousands of people are going to come back on before then. Thousands will come back on today, tomorrow, the weekend. That Wednesday date is really just for the entirety of the company,” she said. “But we want people to have an honest estimate and be able to plan and prepare for their lives.”
The force of Tuesday’s storms knocked out power to more than 400,000 FirstEnergy customers. Catlett said it’s the largest single event in more than 30 years. In 1993, 300,000 customers lost power.
“That’s really significant in terms of what we’ve seen historically and what we have to clean up right now,” Catlett said.
Stamey said she appreciates the hard work of the line crews, and she’s trying to have patience, but she said it’s been frustrating not being able to leave home.
“I understand they’re doing the best they can and just hope they get to us sometime soon,” she said.
Crews began removing the fallen utility poles from W Ridgewood Dr Thursday afternoon.
FirstEnergy is asking customers with outages to report them if they haven’t done so. Catlett said it would give the company a clearer picture of where and how many outages still need to be repaired.
