CLEVELAND — FirstEnergy said around 98% of residents who were impacted by Tuesday's storms have had their power restored, but there's still work to do.


What You Need To Know

  • As of 9 a.m. Monday, more than 7,000 customers remain without power

  • FirstEnergy President Torrence Hinton said more than 750,000 storm responders have been working around the clock to restore damage

  • Hinton said crews have replaced more than 400 power poles, 200 transformers and enough lines and wires to cover 536 football fields

Tuesday's storms produced five tornadoes, all EF-1s, that swept through different parts of northeast Ohio. At the height of the storms, more than 400,000 residents lost power across the region. 

As of 9 a.m. Monday, more than 7,000 FirstEnergy customers remain without power. During a press conference Monday, FirstEnergy President Torrence Hinton said while many people have a restoration time of Wednesday night, it's possible many will regain power back sooner. Hinton noted some may regain it by Monday night.

However, for those in areas with greater damage, it's possible for power to come back later in the week. 

Hinton said updated restoration times will be provided to customers through their accounts online. 

Hinton said more than 750,000 storm responders have been working around the clock to fix the damage. Since Tuesday's storms, Hinton said crews have replaced more than 400 power poles, 200 transformers and enough lines and wires to cover 536 football fields. 

“Our crews want to make sure we wrap up this effort strong and as quickly as possible," Hinton said.

Hinton also urged residents to stay away from work crews as they continue to do their jobs. 

“For everyone’s safety, please let our crews do our jobs and stay away from their work zone," Hinton said, saying their work is hazardous and can potentially endanger the safety of others. 

Hinton also reminded the public that some line workers also have families sitting at home without power.

Additionally, Cleveland Public Power said Monday it has also restored 98% of the power outages, which affected 34,000 customers in its service area when the storms came through. Currently, there's around 550 customers without service. 

Cleveland Public Power said there are more than 150 line workers, transmission and distribution inspectors, line clearance workers and more working on restoration efforts. The company said 70 feeders, which are electrical circuits that energize entire neighborhoods, were knocked out at the onset of the storms. 

The current areas of concentration for the company include:

  • All remaining primary wires down
  • Parkgrove
  • Waterloo
  • Glenville
  • Hough
  • Old Brooklyn

“Last week was a very traumatic experience for the entire City of Cleveland," said Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin at the press conference. "In times like this, it’s important that we collaborate between government and private sector partners, but it’s also important for our community to stick together."

Griffin applauded the efforts and the "spirit of Cleveland" after communities came together to help each other during the power outages, including providing water and food to others, transportation and more. 

Hinton noted Giant Eagle is still giving out ice and water to residents in need. Locations can be found here.