Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday declared a state of emergency after nearly 2 million customers throughout the state lost electricity. The outages forced 450 school districts to cancel Monday classes, and several of the state's largest districts - including Columbus City Schools - called off school for Tuesday.
Strickland planned to meet with county EMA officials and tour damaged areas on Tuesday. He was scheduled to visit Hamilton, Montgomery and Franklin counties.
As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, roughly half of American Electric Power customers in Franklin County - 236,597 customers - did not have service. Roughly half of Delaware County AEP customers - 27,318 - were also without power.
TUESDAY'S SCHOOL CLOSINGS, DELAYS
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AEP spokeswoman Terri Flora said power is expected to be restored to 90 percent of customers by Sunday. Flora said 490,000 customers in Ohio were without power Tuesday morning.
The Ohio Department of Transportation said 46 roads have been closed or restricted as crews clean up from the storm. In addition, ODOT said one-third of its traffic signals across the state were not working.
"Because of the extraordinary nature of what has happened in Ohio in the last few hours I am declaring a statewide emergency declaration," Strickland said. "Having done that, we will have greater flexibility in the use of state resources."
At least six deaths across the state have been blamed on the storm, including the electrocution of Hilliard-area man on Monday morning. Fred Caceres, 59, was electrocuted while trying to repair a generator at a juvenile correctional facility in Delaware County.
Four other deaths in Ohio have been blamed on fallen trees.
AEP's county-by-county breakdown includes:
Athens: 1,762 without power
Coshocton: 5,771
Crawford: 187
Delaware: 27,318
Fairfield: 17,949
Franklin: 236,597
Guernsey: 2,228
Hancock: 1,451
Hocking: 1,741
Jackson: 1,162
Knox: 14,489
Licking: 5,414
Madison: 880
Morrow: 1,388
Muskingum: 11,965
Perry: 5,385
Pickaway: 370
Pike: 367
Richland: 5,012
Ross: 2,514
Scioto: 595
Union: 333
Vinton: 146
Washington: 161
AEP officials said it could take up to seven days for power to be restored to all customers. To report outages to AEP, call AEP customer service at 1-800-277-2177.
Numerous damage reports have been called and e-mailed into the 10TV Newsroom. Click here to send us damage reports from Sunday's storms.
The 10TV Newsroom is also receiving Tuesday dismissals and closings for schools and businesses. Click here for the updated list.
Live Doppler 10 meteorologist Brandon Roux said that we have seen the worst of the severe weather, and sunny skies will return later this week. Click for his updated forecast.
10TV News HD is setting up a Show You Care hotline to assist viewers' questions about power outages, school and business closings, businesses that are open and other concerns. Call 614-821-1010 and 877-220-1010.
Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for continuing coverage.
