Line crews have been working 16-hour days since storms ripped through the region on Friday and Sunday.
The storms uprooted trees, knocked down power poles and sent wires flying. Hundreds of thousands were left without power.
Derrick VanSickle said that he and his crew have been working to take the situation from catastrophic to clear.
"This little storm, it was only 20 minutes long, it did some serious damage," VanSickle said.
VanSickle said that when his crew arrived on Hamilton Road, where wires fell and trapped drivers on Friday, they had their work cut out for them.
"When you get here and everything is in a bind, it takes a lot of time to get it safely out of there," he said.
Once the dangerous debris is removed, crews must excavate to put in new poles. The poles have to be delivered and assembled before being rewired.
"It's not a quick fix, it's not one size fits all," AEP's Terri Flora said.
Many customers complain when they do not see AEP crews on their block.
"The problem may be two miles away, versus right in your neighborhood," Flora said.
Others complain because the crews perform limited night work.
"We're dealing with a very deadly product," Flora said, "We have to be very coordinated in our efforts to make sure each of these guys goes home to their families."
VanSickle said that his crew is working as quickly and safely as they can.
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