Powerless
One week after wind storm, some area homes still don’t have serviceBy DAVID M. GRIMES / dgrimes@reviewonline.co
EAST LIVERPOOL - One week after the remnants of Hurricane Ike struck the Columbiana County area, some residents in the area are still without power.
According to AEP data, just under 200 customers, or about one percent of their customer base were still without power Sunday evening. They first reported 432 customers were without power as of 6 p.m. Sunday just in the East Liverpool area alone.
Ohio Edison stated similar numbers, stating that they expect 99 percent restoration by the end of Sunday night. Donald R. Schneider, FirstEnergy senior vice president of energy delivery and customer service, said the Salem and surrounding areas were one of the hardest places hit.
Allegheny Power reportedly had no more cases of lost power as of Sunday night. Some 33 customers were still without power in their West Virginia customer base, though. Pennsylvania had two reported customers without power.
Some residents in the West Point area were still without power as of Sunday afternoon.
West Point resident Laura Brown said some neighbors she knew had power, but her home, as reminded by her friends with electricity, was still in the dark. She said she has been running a generator periodically to keep the freezer running.
Residents in Salineville also reported outages on Sunday and some residents in the East End, in East Liverpool reportedly were without electricity too.
AEP workers were out trying to fix any powerline problems and reach the 99 percent goal by Monday morning. Personnel were reporting working local areas like in the LaCroft region near Hunter Avenue and 6th Street for roughly two hours Saturday afternoon. Wires were still down on the side of the road by evening though.
"Customers are asked to contact AEP Ohio if they notice power to their neighbors has been restored, yet they remain without service," an American Electric Power statement said. The problem may be isolated to the individual home or business.
Ohio Edison stated they expect power to be restored in Salem and the surrounding areas by 5 p.m. today.
East Liverpool's water system tower that houses the gauges and remote water level monitoring equipment was blown down by the initial wind surge. Keith Clark, head of the water department, stated the the downed tower was a "very serious" problem at a public utilities meeting Thursday.
There were reportedly no water interruptions and very little operational problems with the sewage system. One lift station along Pleasant Heights was without power until Wednesday, but personnel used a pumper truck to move the collections to the treatment plant.
Hygiene locations were set up mid-week in the Potter Fieldhouse and the Columbiana County Career and Technical Center. United Local High School was also used as a Red Cross location.
On Tuesday, when County Commissioners declared a state of emergency throughout Columbiana County, a water and ice program was implemented by Ohio Edison at the East Liverpool Giant Eagle.
AEP first reported that over 80 percent of their customers were without power on Monday and Ohio Edison reported between 500 and 2,000 customers were without electricity in Rogers and Negley. Wellsville Mayor Joe Surace said about 35 percent of his village was without power due to four transformers being out.
Roads and downed wires were reported throughout Hancock County as well.
A large tree initially blocked both lanes of Route 2 between Mountaineer and Ergon. One of the major incidents in Chester was a downed tree that fell on Pyramus Street that knocked out power lines, said Chester Police Chief Ken Thorn.
Hancock County Sheriff Mike White said no injuries were reported during the initial hit of the storm and only a few homes received damage from falling trees.
Areas in the northern region of the county appeared to be less affected by the storm than the southern end.
Newell Fire Chief Scott Wilson said that his department was busy Sunday night and Monday morning and handled "nothing different from anybody else. It was havoc over here just like everywhere else."
