Some Valley residents still waiting for electricity

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Power was still out Monday night for some Valley residents after weekend of 60 mph winds that toppled power lines and felled trees.

The FirstEnergy Storm Center reported that 1,297 customers were without power in Trumbull County; 948 in Mahoning and 1,159 in Columbiana County.

Beaver Township in Mahoning County was particularly hard-hit.

Brookfield and Newton townships had the highest number of power outages in Trumbull County, followed by Bristol Township, Liberty Township and Warren city.

Ohio Edison is estimating power will be fully restored across the county no later than Wednesday evening.

Liberty police Chief Toby Meloro said there were no injuries or issues related to the high winds Monday aside from the power outages.

Several schools lost power and were forced to delay or cancel classes Monday morning.

Poland Local Schools and Portersville Christian School closed Monday, while Beaver Local and East Liverpool schools in Columbiana County enacted two-hour delays.

Residents from across the county took to social media to share photos of toppled trees leaning against houses, tangled in power lines or that had been completely uprooted.

"Our guys are still cleaning up debris," said Jim Scharville, Poland Township administrator.

The township has experienced fallen trees and power lines, but no one has called about damage to their homes.

Scharville told residents to call the road department for tree clean-up needs.

The storm also felled trees in the village, causing traffic signal damage and power line issues. Trees caused problems with the power lines at the intersection of U.S. Route 224 and Duncan Drive, said Councilman Anthony Lattanzio.

"We had no significant damage in the area in the way of homes or structures," said Boardman fire Chief Mark Pitzer.

The fire department received 33 calls in the last 24 hours, Trustee Brad Calhoun explained at Monday night's meeting.

Boardman also experienced problems regarding power lines and fallen trees in the road.

As of late Monday morning, there were no reported injuries resulting from the winds.

Tom Watson, acting supervisor at the Trumbull County 911 Center, said Sunday through early Monday were extremely busy with 1,464 calls from 11 a.m. Sunday to 11 a.m. Monday with many of those being wind related.

He estimated that is about double the number of calls the center takes during a normal 24-hor period. There were 232 calls related to trees and wires down.