Messy Ohio weather cuts power to tens of thousands

COLUMBUS (AP) — A winter storm’s messy mix of snow, sleet and ice closed schools, disrupted airport flight schedules and left thousands in Ohio without power.

American Electric Power said at midday Friday that 24,000 of its Ohio customers had no electricity, mainly in counties in northwestern Ohio south of Toledo.

FirstEnergy Corp. reported that about 13,000 of its customers lost power, mostly in the Toledo area, though some were affected in greater Cleveland.

The problem was primarily ice pulling down tree limbs and power lines, said Mark Durbin, a spokesman for Akron-based FirstEnergy.

“This is winter, this is Ohio, so you’re going to have some ice, and you might have an outage with that,” he said.

FirstEnergy saw the storm coming from the West and staffed appropriately, also telling crews they might need to work extra hours, Durbin said.

Schools in Toledo, Akron, Mansfield and numerous other districts canceled Friday classes, starting children’s Christmas breaks a day early. Counties declared snow emergencies, urging drivers to use caution on slippery roads.

Some flights were canceled at Toledo Express and Cleveland Hopkins International airports.

The Toledo Zoo first said it would open two hours late but later decided to close for the day and also canceled its holiday season light show for Friday evening. Zoo crews were having difficulty keeping up with the ice, and the zoo didn’t feel the grounds were safe enough for visitors, spokeswoman Andi Norman said.

An ice storm warning that had been in effect for several northwestern Ohio counties was canceled early by the National Weather Service as temperatures climbed to and above the freezing mark thanks to a warm front advancing from the south.

By noon Friday, the weather service reported it was 32 degrees in Toledo, 35 in Cleveland — and 65 in Cincinnati.

FirstEnergy’s Durbin said the thaw could help to keep power outages from worsening, but he said Ohio utilities know not to count on higher temperatures sticking around.

“You never know. Something could come down from the north and change that equation,” he said.

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