Ohio Edison/Penn Power crews out; thousands still without power

Hurricane Ike’s diminished winds roared through the Mahoning and Shenango valleys overnight at 60 mph, leaving 188,000 electric customers without power by 4 a.m. today, said Paul Harkey, Ohio Edison/Penn Power spokesman.

Winds started moving through the area at 7 p.m. Sunday, snapping tree limbs and toppling trees. Most outages were caused by downed power lines. Restoring power to all customers could take several days, Harkey said.

Youngstown was the hardest hit with 56,000 electric customers in the dark, he said. In Salem, 25,000 lost power; Alliance, 13,000; Warren, 16,000; Kinsman, 6,000; New Castle, 20,000; Mercer, 27,000; and Cranberry Township, 25,000.

At 9:30 a.m. today, more than 100,000 were still without power: 42,000 in Youngstown, Salem went up to 26,000; Warren dropped to 12,000; New Castle to 13,000; and Mercer, 21,000. Harkey described the work to be done as labor intensive. He said crews from sister companies are on hand to help.