Sun, Jul 05 2009
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Published September 15, 2008 11:00 pm - The Illuminating Co. cautioned Monday that days may be needed to repair damage completely that was caused by strong winds generated from the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Outages may last days Some schools close as area copes with Ike aftermath By SHELLEY TERRY and MARK TODD - Staff Writers Star Beacon The Illuminating Co. cautioned Monday that days may be needed to repair damage completely that was caused by strong winds generated from the remnants of Hurricane Ike.
Gusts toppled trees and broke limbs, knocking out electricity to an estimated 1 million customers in an area rang from Akron and Youngstown, to Cleveland and east into Erie County, Pa., according to a statement from FirstEnergy. Service may not be fully restored for several days, officials said. Some 200,000 people were affected in the northeast Ohio area, said Mark Jones, Ashtabula area manager. “This was a pretty big event,” he said. Locally, roads were clogged with fallen trees and limbs. Outages closed every school in the Conneaut and Grand Valley school districts and shut down buildings in the Jefferson and Ashtabula school districts, officials said. Ashtabula Municipal Court was closed Monday because of a power outage that affected several downtown neighborhoods. Police were busy directing traffic at intersections where signals weren’t working. County and municipal road crews spent the day clearing roads and streets clogged by fallen limbs. Ike was breathing its last when it reached Ashtabula County but still packed a wallop that impressed weather experts. Gusts reaching 78 mph were recorded at the Ashtabula Harbor Lighthouse between 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday, said Ron Coursen, a National Weather Service observer in Ashtabula. Outages at Conneaut High School, Lakeshore Primary and the Southeast building prompted Kent Houston, Conneaut Area City Schools’ superintendent, to cancel classes districtwide, he said. Bus reroutings would have made it difficult to hold class at Conneaut Middle and Gateway Elementary schools, which escaped the blackouts, Houston said. School officials thought of delaying the start of school but canceled that idea when the Illuminating Co. could not say for sure when power would be restored, he said. Houston decided to cancel classes at 5:30 a.m., shortly after visiting the affected buildings, he said. Power was restored around 10 a.m., he said. In addition to the Grand Valley district, outages shut down Lakeside Junior High School in Ashtabula and Rock Creek Elementary School in the Jefferson School District, according to reports. Flattened trees and limbs caused headaches for road crews across the county. Route 6, between Route 45 and Windsor-Mechanicsville Road, in Rome Township was closed for several hours Monday to allow Ohio Department of Transportation workers an opportunity to remove debris, according to ODOT’s District 4 office. Ashtabula County highway department crews shut down a stretch of Harpersfield Road because of a dropped power line, and also had to remove a tree that fell across Dodgeville Road in New Lyme Township, a spokesman said. Municipal workers in Ashtabula were busy Monday dealing with trees and limbs, said Dom Iarocci, superintendent of public services. Most of the damage was concentrated on the city’s west side, especially in the area of Woodman Avenue and Route 20, he said. Wind damage also generated 30 calls in Geneva, Geneva Township, Harpersfield Township, Geneva-on-the-Lake and Austinburg Township, police and fire dispatch records show. 
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