Dorset resident feels power-less

By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

September 20, 2008 02:24 am

— DORSET TOWNSHIP — For the past five days, Kathy Fetzer’s house has been too cold and her refrigerator too warm.
As of Friday afternoon, she had no television, no radio, no reliable water service — all due to the power outage that persists in her part of Dorset Township.
Worst of all, the past week was Fetzer’s vacation from work. Entertainment options at her all-electric home were limited, she said.
“I sit outside during the day and catch up on my reading,” she said. “I’m getting plenty of sleep, too.”
Fetzer, of Old Kyle Road, and her neighbors were among just a handful of county residents still without power late Friday afternoon. Only four Illuminating Company customers still needed attention by late Friday afternoon, said Mark Jones, area manager.
Fetzer is a customer of Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy subsidiary especially hard-hit by the storm, Jones said. Ohio Edison will be asked to expedite repairs to Fetzer and other homes on her road, he said.
Fetzer was told her power may not return until midnight Sunday. Fetzer said she fully understands the storm was severe, but said the idea of seven straight days without electricity is too much to handle
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. “I cannot believe it.”
Fetzer adopted pioneer tactics to cope. She travels to nearby springs to collect water. For awhile, she bought bags of ice to preserve her refrigerated food.
“After awhile, I couldn’t find ice,” Fetzer said. “(The food) is gone. It’s done.”
Some 13,000 county residents suffered outages caused by super-strong winds kicked by the remnants of Hurricane Ike. More than 1 million people under the umbrella of FirstEnergy companies were affected by the storm, the largest weather-related event ever, officials have said.
“Repair crews are continuing to work day and night,” Jones said. “A lot of the remaining repairs is painstaking work and very labor intensive.”
An ice storm in early March caused outages that affected 55,000 county residents, Jones said.
There was one silver lining to Fetzer’s ordeal, she said. “I’ve lost eight pounds,” she said.