Wind blasts knock out power to 14,000 Richland County households

MANSFIELD — More than 14,000 households were reportedly experiencing power outages as of 4:40 p.m. on Friday amid high winds ripping across north central Ohio.

First Energy/Ohio Edison reported several outages throughout the county, impacting around 11,000 customers, or about one in four of the Ohio Edison’s Richland County customer base. 

AEP Ohio was reporting several outages as of Friday afternoon, impacting large swaths of northern Richland County (between Plymouth, Shiloh and West Liberty) and Lexington. Smaller outages were reported in and to the west of Bellville.

In total, there were approximately 4,517 AEP-served households without power as of 4:40 p.m.

Neither power provider listed information about when power might be restored at the time of publication.

Strong winds can make it harder for crews to restore power and may slow restoration efforts, according to a news release from First Energy’s website.

For safety reasons, crews cannot use bucket trucks when wind speeds are above 40 mph. Fallen trees and blocked roads can also delay crews as they travel to outage locations.

When storms hit, electric service companies prioritize critical infrastructure like police and fire departments, water and wastewater treatment plants and hospitals, according to First Energy and AEP’s websites.

After that, companies tend to focus on the outages impacting the most customers.

High wind warning in effect until 8 p.m.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning Friday for several Ohio counties, including Richland, Ashland, Knox, Morrow and Crawford. 

The warning is in effect until 8 p.m. Expect southwest to west winds between 25 and 35 miles per hour, with gusts up to between 60 and 70 miles per hour. 

The NWS predicts damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages and making for difficult travel.

What to do if you see a downed power line

If you see a downed power line, report it by calling your local police or fire department or your power provider.

Residents should be cautious and treat all downed power lines as dangerous. Stay away and keep children and pets away from any slacking or fallen lines.

Never attempt to remove tree limbs or other objects from a downed line. If a downed line is near water, stay at least 100 feet away. Don’t drive over power lines and stay away from vehicles that are in contact with downed wires.

If a downed line falls on your vehicle, stay where you are until help arrives. If staying put isn’t an option due to a potentially life-threatening situation, jump out as far as you can and land on both feet. Never touch the vehicle and the ground at the same time.