Thousands still have no power in eastern Ohio after storms

ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Thousands in Ohio still have no electricity from fierce storms earlier this week, and a power company says full restoration could take a few more days.

American Electric Power reported that about 12,000 customers had no service this morning, mostly in eastern Ohio’s Guernsey and Belmont counties. The company says winds and lightning on Wednesday wrecked power lines and distribution and transmission facilities.

The National Weather Service says winds reached about 70 mph in the storms, which were blamed for three deaths.

AEP says while most power will be restored before the weekend is out, it could be Monday before everyone is back up.

Outages in St. Clairsville on Thursday curtailed some government services and led Ohio University Eastern to close early.