Old Man Winter showed up early this year and without an invite ...
October baseball? Or October snowballs? A few hours after the end of Game 1 of the World Series Wednesday evening, lake-effect sleet and snow pummeled Geauga County and eastern Cuyahoga County.
October baseball?
Or October snowballs?
A few hours after the end of Game 1 of the World Series Wednesday evening, lake-effect sleet and snow pummeled Geauga County and eastern Cuyahoga County.
More than 47,000 customers were without power in the Greater Cleveland area, according to the FirstEnergy power outages map.
Of those 47,000 residents without power as of Thursday afternoon, 15,353 are in Geauga County, with the most outages reported in Russell, Auburn, Munson, Newbury and Chester townships, according to the NewsNet5.ccom website.
The National Weather Service issued a lake effect snow advisory until 1 p.m. as heavy snow fell Thursday.
The advisory, which was initially expected to end by 11 a.m., was extended to 1 p.m. Between 3 and 6 inches of snow was expected to fall by the end of the weather event.
Forecasts called for the snow to taper to rain by Thursday afternoon, with more snow to follow in the evening.
Many Accidents, Few Injuries
When winter arrived a little early Thursday morning with 4 to 6 inches of sticky snow taking down trees, branches and utility wires across much of Geauga County, residents were ready.
Many schools, deprived of electricity, closed and thousands of households met the cold morning without power, as well.
Geauga County drivers, familiar with snowy road conditions, had toted up a couple of dozen accidents before noon but few injuries.
Geauga County sheriff Dan McClelland said the phones had been ringing and his deputies had been respondong.
“We are very busy,” he said. “The majority of our calls have been related to low hanging branches and untility lines down.”
Accidents were mostly fender-benders and vehicles sliding into ditches, McClelland said, adding that he understood First Energy was on the job and there might be problems with the substation in Chester Township.
‘We’re Staying Ahead Of This’
Chardon Township Road Superintendent John Washco said “tons” of heavy, wet snow came down in the township.
“We had trees down on Howard and Welk (roads) and elsewhere,” Washco said. “A lot of them had branches that were hanging low.”
He said the road crew had all four trucks out on the township’s roads by 4 a.m. A tree trimmer and his truck came in to help as well.
“We’re staying ahead of this,” he said.
A voicemail seeking comment from Chester Township Fire Chief John Wargelin was left.
The westernmost townships bore the brunt of the storm damage.
In Burton Village, Council President Linda Swaney was in the midst of talking with the Geauga County Maple Leaf when a wire fell on her car.
Fiscal Officer Chris Paquette said there were reports of wires down throughout the village, including some limbs from trees.
The village’s power is on and Paquette said its phone system is tied into normal power operation and is not separate.
“This is not a significant batch of snow, as there are still leaves on the trees,” he said. “It’s going to take down limbs. This type of snow is stressful to trees and vegetation, but the village is handling it well.”
Paquette added there are wires down on every street in the village and noted he could see tree branches outside his window at the village offices above the Burton Public Library.
County Plows at the Ready
Plows were ready for the first day of winter in the Geauga County garage, said County Engineer Joe Cattell.
“We sent out the first round about 1 a.m. and the second at 3 a.m.,” he said. “We were definitely ahead of the curve.”
Branches laden with the heavy snow were a problem, since about half the leaves are still on the trees, he said.
The county’s weather service had predicted snow, but more arrived than expected.
“But we live in Geauga County, right? We just smile and deal with it,” Cattell said.
Mark Durbin, spokesman for FirstEnergy Corp., said the utility was prepared for a snowy day.
“All out crews are out,” he said.
If residents see trucks from Ohio Edison and West Penn Power on the roads, they shouldn’t be surprised. Crews from other, less snowy districts, have come to the rescue.
Thursday morning, Durbin said he had heard there were about 45,000 homes and businesses affected and he hopes FirstEnergy will have those back up by Friday.
“You’re never going to prevent every single outage” even though the company does “vegetation management” throughout the year to get branches away from wires, he said, adding, “Trees are the biggest cause of outages.”
The priority for restoration starts with emergency services, including hospitals, police and fire.
Repairs are scheduled based on restoring the most people the fastest. In areas with severe damage, it may require repairs in multiple locations to restore power to one location, according to the FirstEnergy website.
FirstEnergy serves more than 740,000 customers in nine Ohio counties.
Warming Center for Residents
At the Chardon United Methodist Church on North Street, the church set up a warming center for those without power, said Associate Pastor Diane DeVall.
“The church’s sanctuary is being used as a shelter,” DeVall said. “We have heat in the building, hot showers, hot coffee on. We are available for people that need the protection and heat, such as the elderly.”
The church is normally open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but is flexible due to emergencies.
“This is standard practice in the event of a calamity,” she added.
For more information, contact the church at 440-285-4581.
