April 28, 2020

One of the five tornadoes recently striking our Ohio service territory touched down in Barberton – a city just southeast of Akron. Reaching wind speeds of 90 mph, the twister cut a 100-yard-wide path for approximately eight miles. In the wake of the tornado’s destruction, crews from Ohio Edison and The Illuminating Company – along with contractors – repaired over 100 downed spans of power line and more than 100 broken poles, crossarms and transformers. A customer sent the following email commending their efforts:

Our family just wanted to say, “thank you.” Your crews were on the scene in our area within 30 minutes. They basically worked for three straight days in a variety of different weather elements (cold, rain, snow, wind) to repair damage. On day three, the crew worked past 1 a.m. to get the power back on in our neighborhood. Thanks again to your company and workers for their commitment to everyone in our area hit by the storm. Please stay safe and healthy.

John Sabol
Barberton, Ohio

Here are some other customer shout-outs received following the recent storm restoration efforts:

I wanted to applaud the awesome service your team did yesterday to restore our power. I cannot tell you how impressed and thankful I am to everyone involved with the quick action. The above-and-beyond service your team did yesterday – and the other times we’ve had an outage – is extraordinary. Thank you for all you do every day to keep our electric up and running. 

Kathy Opferman
Fairmont, W.Va.

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A big thank to the crews following the windstorms in Columbiana County. They were out there repairing damage for a long time and did not finish in our area until late at night. Hats off to these crews. They could have been home with their families in this trying time, but they were out taking care of other families.

Kenny Foster
Petersburg, Ohio

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In addition to thanking you for getting our power back on, I want to compliment you on how well the text messages kept me informed during the process. I knew it was going to take some time for repairs, but I wanted a clear idea of when the power would be back, especially since my 90-year-old mom lives one block over. We didn’t know how long she should be without heat. With social distancing, my sisters and I were working on a plan to keep her warm and safe. So kudos to you and keep up the good work!

Nancy Jackson
Massillon, Ohio

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Shout out to FirstEnergy crews who restored power to my neighborhood in the Portage Lakes area. My electric was restored on Friday, April 10 at 12:03 a.m. I was asleep and awakened by my alarm clock light blinking. I was delighted to have electric and thrilled that at least part of my life was back to normal.

In the East Reservoir area where I live, we have well water. When the electric goes out, we have no water to flush our toilets (yikes!). But living on the lakefront, we can take a bucket and fill it with water from the reservoir to flush the toilet. It’s one of the perks of living on the lake (LOL).

A big “thank you” to FirstEnergy crews who work long hours to provide an essential service to the community. I appreciate it. 

Carol Eubank
Akron

FirstEnergy Utilities restored service to more than 500,000 customers following early April storms.