Thousands lose power in tonight's winds

YOUNGSTOWN

Strong wind gusts estimated as high as 50 miles per hour were blamed for thousands of FirstEnergy customers in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties to lose power this afternoon and evening.

Originally, more than 3,600 were without electricity in Trumbull, but by 9:30 p.m. that number was down to 260, and most of the major outages were in Newton and Weathersfield townships.

About 1,000 were without power in Mahoning, more than 800 of which were in Youngstown. As of 9:30 p.m., that number dropped to about 55; and in Columbiana County, some 205 remained without power.

A FirstEnergy spokesman said crews were working through the night and, if no other storms occur, expect to have everyone’s power restored Sunday.