BETHEL, Ohio — For Duke Energy crews, it’s a race against the clock to restore power for thousands in Clermont County after a major winter storm.
Crews worked through layers of ice and snow in order to get the power back on. The intense ice storm layered power lines, causing trees to fall, creating headaches for residents and crews.
Lifelong Clermont County resident Kathy Kirkman was one of thousands without power.
“It stinks not having electricity,” she said.
Kirkman said the power went out Thursday night, but luckily, she has kerosene heaters to stay warm.
“It’s been cold, but yeah, with my kids, it’s been crazy,” she said. "They don’t have anything to do.”
Duke Energy Ohio spokesperson Sally Thelen said this storm has caused one headache after another for utility crews.
“We've still had branches falling actively this morning, creating new outages, so while we did make some headway overnight on the outages, we get a whole ‘nother round of new outages that occurred today,” Thelen said on Friday. “So it's just kind of like you catch up a little bit and then you're dealt more outages, unfortunately.”
Duke Energy called in crews from out of state, including Pennsylvania and North Carolina, to assist with restorations. Teams are working in 16-hour shifts back-to-back. However, Thelen said they are at the mercy of mother nature.
“Even with all the manpower we have, Mother Nature proves that she’s a force to be reckoned with,” Thelen said.
Thelen assures customers that they are working as fast as possible to get the power restored. Until then, it’s a waiting game for those affected because venturing out to a friend or relative's house is also an adventure.
“Well, you can see the roads,” Kirkman said. “There’s no way I’m going out on this. I’ll let the kids play in the snow. they’ve got their snow bibs and everything, so they’re having fun. But me, I’m dealing with it.”