Nearly 30,000 AEP Ohio customers in Franklin County remained without power Thursday morning, more than 48 hours after straight-line winds of 90 to 100 mph tore through Upper Arlington and surrounding communities on Aug. 11.
AEP Ohio now projects full restoration by around noon Aug. 14, according to the company's outage map cited by the Columbus Dispatch. Franklin County is the last county in Ohio with more than 1,000 powerless AEP customers.
Approximately 3,700 line workers, including out-of-state crews from as far as Oklahoma, are working staggered 16-hour shifts to clear damage and restore service, ABC6/WSYX reported.
"We go after what we call critical infrastructure," Dylan Brown, an AEP Ohio operations manager, told ABC6. "First hospitals, urgent cares, fire, police departments and then go after areas with the biggest amount of customers out and work on those efforts until all customers restored."
At the storm's peak Tuesday, roughly 110,000 central Ohio customers lost power. By Wednesday that number had dropped to about 60,000 in central Ohio, AEP Ohio President Marc Reitter said, according to WYSO.
Residents face mounting hardships
For those still waiting, the outage has meant spoiled food, failed medical equipment and sleepless nights. Columbus resident Jerry Williams told ABC6 that neighbors have been sleeping in their cars to charge phones, wasting gas in the process.
Ohio EMA guidance warns that refrigerated food lasts about four hours without power and frozen food about 48 hours in a full freezer. With the outage now past that threshold, the agency's advice is blunt: "When in doubt, throw it out."
Where UA residents can go now
The City of Upper Arlington has opened several locations for residents who need air conditioning, device charging or other services, according to the city's storm update page:
- Bob Crane Community Center: open Monday through Friday, 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. A police officer is stationed on Level 1 for walk-in damage reports.
- All three UA Public Library branches: open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.
- St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Dorset Road: Parish Hall open daytime and overnight.
- Northwest United Methodist Church, 5200 Riverside Drive: open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon Friday, with shower facilities.
The Municipal Services Center has had power restored and reopens Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Safety reminders
Upper Arlington police and fire crews responded to about 225 calls during and after the Aug. 11 storm. No injuries were reported in the city.
The city warns residents not to approach downed power lines, which should all be treated as live. Intersections with inoperable traffic signals should be treated as four-way stops.
A flood watch remains in effect for central Ohio until 11 a.m. Aug. 14, with additional rain forecast overnight Thursday into Friday morning, as we reported Wednesday.
Residents can report outages to AEP Ohio at aepohio.com/outages/report or by calling 1-800-672-2231. Non-hazardous tree damage blocking roadways can be reported to the city at 614-459-2800. Curbside chipping of storm debris begins Aug. 17.
