MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Many Tri-State residents can breathe a sigh of relief after Duke Energy restored power for most affected by Monday's storms.
Those who live along Kuntz Avenue and 14th Street in Middletown said their power was back on Tuesday evening.
“I welcome (the electricity) and say thank you, Jesus!” Geraldine Bess said.
Bess said the electricity couldn’t come soon enough as the area deals with blistering heat. A heat advisory is in effect through 8 p.m. Thursday.
“We’re all suffering from this heat, “ Bess said. “The weather makes a big difference. When we had the last weather storm, the heat wasn’t as hot as it is now.”
Before power was restored, residents said they spent their day outside, noting it was hotter indoors. Many of them sat on their porch, trying to feel a breeze.
At its peak, Duke Energy reported more than 166,000 outages. Around 20% of Butler and Warren counties had no power. As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, around 1,000 people in the Tri-State are still without power.
“The storm has caused the most significant outage event that this region has seen in the last decade,” said Casey Kroger with Duke Energy. “The vegetations that have been down on power lines, they had to have tree trimming crews coming in, they had to do all that work and access the damage before they can even get up on the truck and reconnect it.”
Crews from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina traveled to the Tri-State to help with repairs, working around the clock to assess damage and make repairs. Duke Energy said there were some challenges as they worked to restore power in some tough locations.
“We’re dealing with the outages that are more isolated. So the smaller outages that are in 0-5 customers, these are a little harder to get to. The crews are having to go way back into the woods off of the streets with different kinds of vehicles and equipment to restore the power.”
Power was estimated to be restored at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
READ MORE
Crews travel into Tri-State as thousands lose power after storms
Here's how this week's storms formed to be so strong
