Thousands still without power in Mahoning and Shenango valleys

Thousands still without power in Mahoning and Shenango valleys

In the aftermath of a ice storm that toppled trees overnight, nearly 15,000 electric customers are still without service in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania, said spokesman Paul Harkey.

The bulk of the outages, around 10,000, are in the Warren-Kinsman-Cortland area in Trumbull County with the rest scattered in the Salem area, western part of Mahoning County, and Mercer and New Castle in Pennsylvania.

Harkey said power in Mahoning County should be restored sometime later today, but power may be out in the hardest hit areas of Trumbull County until Thursday evening. He said the first call related to storm came at 6 p.m. Tuesday when ice formed on tree limbs and toppled trees.

Overnight, 150,000 customers were without power in Ohio. By 4 a.m., 98,000 still had no service, he said. Restoring power can’t take place until toppled trees are removed, which is a slow process, he said.