FirstEnergy: Power Could Be Out Through Sunday

Updated: Click here to read what to do if you may need shelter this week. Time sensitive.

FirstEnergy Representative Mark Durbin said that Avon Lake was one of the hardest hit communities in Northeast Ohio following Monday's storm and his company’s goal was to have most power restored by Saturday morning or 6 p.m. on Sunday.

More than 5,000 customers lost power in Avon Lake.

“Our goal is the weekend if not sooner,” Durbin said. “We’re trying to refine restoration.”

A notation on FirstEnergy's "storm restoration" page said the majority of Lorain County customers are "expected to be restored by noon on Friday, November 2."

Some areas of Avon Lake have already been restored and Durbin credited that to an area that crews could get to and get the most customers up and running.

He said crews are scattered throughout Northeast Ohio and there was no set plan to get one community restored over another, but the company would devote workers where the most restoration is possible.

That means a pocket in Strongsville may see power restored before moving on to another area, if that restoration means more people with power than, say, Avon Lake.

“That’s our goal,” he said of the weekend restoration “There may still be an isolated case or two that is longer. We don’t want to be locked into a timeframe.”

He said the wind combined with the rain was especially problematic and the storm was "serious."

“The wind blows the tree and the limbs, but the rain saturation caused the ground to soften for” he said.

Residents should make preparations for the possibility of being without power through the weekend.