NORTH RIDGEVILLE, OH — Even as some customers wait for their lights to come back on following Tuesday’s storms, First Energy is preparing for the possibility of more storms moving into Northeast Ohio this weekend.
“Our crews have been working around the clock for a couple of days now to get those customers restored,” said First Energy Spokesperson Brooke Conlan. “We have some weather that could be coming in this weekend potentially, so we’ve been tracking that system as well, our meteorologists have and we have crews on standby, prepared to respond if we need to.”
It’s a possibility customers like Patty Sikora don’t want to think about.
“Not yet,” said Sikora, “but if I hear the rain start, I’ll probably go, ‘Oh no, not again.'”
Sikora said Tuesday’s storm tore down a large tree near her home in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood, knocking out power Tuesday night.
By Friday, she said her home was still in the dark.
“I came to my daughter’s house to charge all our stuff and have dinner since we don’t have any power,” said Sikora.
Luckily, power was restored to her daughter’s North Ridgeville home Thursday.
“I said, ‘So yours is on and mine isn’t,'” said Sikora with a laugh.
Near her daughter’s home, broken utility poles have been replaced, but wires still droop low or hang off poles in several places.
Scars from a storm, Sikora isn’t ready to experience again.
“We don’t want to have another storm and knock out our electricity do we?” she asked her grandson. “Nope.”
