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After two weeks away, Dave Jolley returned to his Fredericksburg trailer on Tuesday to find a hot home.
The previous night’s severe storms had knocked out electricity to thousands of homes and businesses across Wayne and Holmes counties.
Any fans and air conditioning units he had were silent. His refrigerated and frozen foods had spoiled. And his 100-pound German Shepherd began panting.
That’s when Jolley headed for cooler quarters — and not a moment too soon as temperatures Wednesday climbed into the 90s and the heat index made it feel more like 105.
Jolley booked one of the last available rooms at the Econo Lodge in Wooster.
“I came here to escape the heat,” he said from the hotel lobby. “My trailer was like an oven.”
When will power be restored for Wayne and Holmes counties?
Jolley is one of roughly 11,000 AEP customers across the two counties without electricity and asking the same question: When will I get my power back?
The answer is, Friday, June 18, for rural residents in the area, according to the company’s website.
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In Wooster, power could be restored as early as Thursday, while most reported outages throughout Wayne and Holmes are still being assessed, according to AEP’s outage map.
But other rural customers like Melisse Groah were told power could be restored as late as Saturday or Sunday.
Groah was among the many flooding local hotels to keep cool on the hottest day of the year.
“I’m lucky enough to be staying here,” said Groah, who works at Econo Lodge. “I’ve heard many of the other hotels are completely booked.”
The National Weather Service anticipated a heat index up to 105 degrees Wednesday as highs climbed to around 95. Thursday’s high should hit 90 with a chance of rain.
What caused all that damage?
Barns blown apart, trees felled and debris everywhere. Parts of Wayne and Holmes counties look as if a tornado had landed.
And after a two-day assessment the damage, the National Weather Service confirmed that no tornado made landfall in the area.
The nearest twister landed south of Richland County in Morrow County, according to the NWS in Cleveland.
A macroburst wind gust of over 90 mph likely caused the tornado-like damage in Wayne and Holmes counties, an NWS spokesperson said.
Macrobursts occur when strong winds stretching two and a half miles wide slam into the ground, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
“To visualize this process, imagine the way water comes out of a faucet and hits the bottom of a sink,” the NSSL website explains.
The road to restoring power
Teams of utility crews are working around the clock to restring lines, power up substations and replace poles brought down by the 89 mph wind gusts from this week’s storm, which dumped nearly two and a half inches of
rain on the area.
Where to stay cool: No power? No problem! Ways to stay cool, be safe and save the food in the fridge
Crews were at six substations Wednesday trying to restore power as Holmes-Wayne Electric Cooperative crews work to replace 42 poles and miles of power lines damaged by the storm and downed trees, the cooperative said on Facebook.
The cooperative said 25 line workers and tree trimmers are working in the Holmesville and Moreland area.
“Please avoid Harrison Road, county Road 245, James Road and Non-Pariel Roads,” they said on Facebook. “Not only is this slowing restoration but it also is putting lives at risk. Many of these roads are closed.”
As people hunt for fuel in Holmes County, gas stations will slowly come back online in the hours and days ahead. The Marathon gas station on S. Washington Street in Millersburg has reopened.
Traffic lights around Wooster are slowly coming back online while homes with recently restored power lose it again after a few hours as crews repair downed lines.
Cooling and charging stations open
Keeping cool was the order of the day as the scorching heat had some folks checking into area hotels while others packed the nearest swimming hole.
Wayne County Emergency Management Agency was working with social service agencies, public libraries and churches to provide shelter from the extreme heat.
Water tanks and generators could be requested from the state if the need arises, a spokesperson for the agency said.
Meanwhile, there are multiple places to go for a cooldown.
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Grace Church in Berlin, 5850 county Road 77; open 1 to 4 p.m.
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Community Action Wayne/Medina in Wooster, lobby open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Wayne County Public Library’s Wooster Branch is offering Conference Room C from noon to 6:15 p.m. People can also use seating in the library.
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Holmes County Chamber of Commerce in Millersburg, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a break from the heat.
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OneEighty on 104 Spink St., Wooster is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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County Commissioner’s Office in Millersburg, 2 Court St., from 1 to 4 p.m.
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Trinity United Church of Christ in downtown Wooster has its Fellowship Hall open.
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Salvation Army, Wooster; the Living Room open for the homeless from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Salvation Army in Wooster offering lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m.
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Seventh Day Adventist Church on Bever Street offering a soup kitchen from 3 to 5 p.m.
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Ripley Church of Christ in Big Prairie, 12286 County Road 330, is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
More information is available online at the United Way of Wayne and Holmes counties Facebook page.
Roads remain closed
Many trees and debris remain strewn across roadways as crews work around the clock to clear the roads in Wayne and Holmes counties for commuters, utility workers and emergency personnel alike.
The Wayne County Engineer’s Office added more streets to the list of closed roadways Wednesday morning.
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Prairie Lane
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Heyl Road
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Wile Road
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Uhl Road
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Finley Road
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Maple Grove Road
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Jefferson Road
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Smyser Road
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Old Columbus Road
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Millbrook Road
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Springville Road
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State Route 302 north of
Old Lincoln Way -
State Route 83 south of Wooster
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State Route 95 from state Route 3 to the Ashland County line
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Harrison Road between James Road and state Route 83
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Harrison Road east of Apple Creek Road
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James Road between Harrison Road and Graber Road
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Shreve Eastern Road
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Willow Road
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Kister Road
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Valley Road
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Smithville Western Road between Overton Road
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Moreland Road west of state Route 83
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Pleasant Home Road between state Route 83 and Rice Hill Road
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Overton Road between state Route 302 and Smithville Western Road
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S. Elyria Road between Old Lincoln Way and Reedsburg Road
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Old Lincoln Way between Firestone Road and Elyria Road
Reach Bryce by email at [email protected]
On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: When will power be restored in Wayne, Holmes counties? Thousands wait