Ice storm leaves area residents without power
Written by Lisa Renee Ward | | lward@toledofreepress.comThe ice storm that hit the Toledo area that began on Feb. 20 and is continuing to impact the area has created closures as well as power outages.
The Toledo Zoo announced it would be closed Feb. 21 due to the ice storm and Toledo-Lucas County Public Library announced that the West Toledo Branch, 1320 Sylvania Ave. and Sanger Branch, 3030 W. Central Ave. will be closed today, Monday, February 21 due to power outages.
Other branches scheduled to be open on Feb. 21 were expected to open at noon.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s office has issued a Level One Snow Emergency for the Lucas County area until further notice.
Jen Sorgenfrei, public information officer for the City of Toledo, told Toledo Free Press, “We have 52 plows on the street that are salting the roads, we have 5 to 6 trucks out in Forestry Division. They are cleaning up several streets that are blocked by downed trees.” There are also additional crews out maintaining traffic and safety to assist with First Energy’s power restoration, Sorgenfrei said.
A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for Lucas County until 10 a.m. Feb. 22. The advisory forecasts mixed freezing rain, sleet and snow will be changing to all snow by late afternoon on Feb. 21. Snowfall is predicted to intensify the evening of Feb. 21 with snow and sleet accumulations before 5 p.m. an inch or less and 2 to 4 additional inches of accumulation by the morning of Feb. 22.
As of 11: 38 a.m. a First Energy spokesman reported that 36,000 Toledo Edison customers are still without power down from 42,000 customers at an earlier point. Most of the power outages are in the Sylvania area though scattered outages exist in other parts of Northwest Ohio, including Toledo.
Updated information is broken down as far as number of customers reported by First Energy with times marked below:
Outages as reported at 2:12 p.m.
Outages reported at 6:36 p.m.
Tags: Lucas County, Toledo, Weather
