Gov. Mike DeWine is offering help to Northeast Ohio after the devastating storms Tuesday, however, Cuyahoga County claims they are handling it. This comes as hundreds of thousands of citizens are still without electricity and wifi, prompting outrage from lawmakers.
Tuesday’s storm was the most powerful to hit Northeast Ohio since 1993 in terms of impact, and crews are still out in the field restoring power to the 400,000 customers who lost it.
“This is becoming a public health crisis,” state Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland) said. “It’s catastrophic.”
Upchurch lost power and wifi but said his community members are facing worse.
“The refrigerator isn’t running, people lose food,” he said. “And not to mention, you have residents that have medical conditions that rely on the electricity for their oxygen tanks.”
FirstEnergy’s Ohio President, Torrence Hinton, provided an update on the company’s progress in restoring power to thousands of Northeast Ohio customers Friday morning, saying most customers will have their power back on by next Wednesday.