MANSFIELD — Power outages are cropping up around Richland County on Friday due to the strong winter storm, according to county Emergency Management Agency Director Rebecca Owens.
The storm that blasted across north central Ohio late Thursday night with snow, powerful winds and icy cold is a quick baptism of fire for Owens, who took over the EMA post three weeks ago.
Owens and her assistant, Sarah Potes, conducted a Zoom call with local media on Friday morning, a session also attended by county commissioners Darrell Banks, Tony Vero and Cliff Mears.
An afternoon update with media is planned Friday at 3:30 p.m., according to Owens, the former regional director for Catholic Charities, including work as the disaster response coordinator for the Toledo Diocese.
“We’re starting to see some power outages. We can go in and track the outages. They’ve got maps for AEP, Ohio Edison, Firelands and Consolidated,” Owens said.
“AEP is reporting 277 households (without power) with those being primarily north on Bowman Road and also Taylortown Road,” she said.
“Ohio Edison is reporting 131, primarily in Mifflin Township, and a few of those in Washington Township,” Owens said.
In case of a power outage, utility companies American Electric Power, FirstEnergy and Firelands Electric Cooperative each have power outage maps that update as power lines are repaired.
She said the current challenges include cold, gusty winds and low visibility in places due to drifting and blowing snow. Owens said another one to two inches of snow is possible today.
“We’ve got reports of vehicles getting stuck. We are being updated quite frequently by the sheriff’s department because they have been out on the road since early this morning,” Owens said.
The sheriff’s office declared a Level One snow emergency at 3:45 a.m. and then upgraded it to a Level Two at 7:45 a.m., the EMA director said.
A winter storm warning remains in effect until Saturday at 7 a.m., according to the National Weather Service office in Cleveland. In addition, a wind chill warning remains in place until Saturday at 10 a.m.
Owens said the air temperature at 9 a.m. in Richland County was -4 degrees with a wind child of -27. Wind gusts of 45 miles per hour are expected throughout Friday, she said.
Owens said the low Friday night is expected to dip down to -3 and that a “balmy” 9 degrees is the expected high on Saturday.
Four residents spent Thursday night at a warming center opened with volunteers at the Salvation Army’s DeWald Center at 47 S. Main St. in Mansfield.
Owens said the center plans to remain open through Monday morning, though more volunteers are needed.
Volunteers are also needed throughout the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Anyone 18 years of age or older wishing to volunteer may do so by contacting Peggy Lewis Powers at 419-564-9542 or using this link to the SignUp Genius application: https://bit.ly/3Wh6eMQ
“The whole premise of this warming center is operated on volunteers. So if we’ve come up with a challenge of volunteers there, it will be questionable as to whether the the warming center would remain open,” Owens said.
The theme for Friday is to stay home if possible, Owens said.
“Be smart, stay home unless absolutely necessary. If you do go out, be sure you’ve got blankets, coats, hat, gloves, all that necessary stuff. We have had reports of vehicles going off the road and people are having to wait a lengthy amount of time for tow trucks,” she said.
“So we want to make sure you stay warm while you’re waiting for the tow trucks,” Owens said.
As power outages increase, she said, so will emergency generator usage.
“As a reminder, be safe with generators, keep them away from the house and in well-ventilated areas,” Owens said.
Residents can sign up for weather and other emergency alerts at the Richland County Notification System web page.
