More than 10,000 people in Lorain County remained without power today after the remnants of Hurricane Ike tore through Ohio on Sunday.

Statewide, about half of the million customers who lost power have their electricity back on, said Chris Eck, a spokesman for Ohio Edison.

“The extent of the damage is such that there are people who won’t have power for a few days,” he said.

About 10,000 remained without power at 11 a.m. today, he said.

The damage is the worst in recent memory, Eck said.

“Hurricane Ike had 70 mph winds in west Texas and when it got here it still had 70 mph winds — it was just unprecedented amounts of wind damage,” Eck said.

About 5,000 of the 16,000 customers of the Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative in five counties were without power, said spokesman Terry Mazzone.  Power remained out at 11 a.m. today to about 100 customers in Lorain County, he said.

Mazzone said Ohio Edison transmission problems into the Baird Road substation in Camden Township caused one large outage.

Circuit problems at substations in Brighton Township and LaGrange Townships caused other large outages, he said.

To report a power outage, call Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Co-op at (800) 222-5673 or (440) 647-2133 or Ohio Edison at 1-888-LIGHTS.

    In addition to the power problems, the Ohio Department of Transportation District 3, which includes Ashland, Crawford, Erie, Huron, Lorain, Medina, Richland, and Wayne Counties, provides the following roads are closed due to weather-related problems:

 U.S. Route 6, Erie County
U.S. 6, between State Route 61 and State Route 60, is closed. The detour route for eastbound motorists is U.S. 6 to SR-61, south on SR-61 to State Route 2, east on SR-2 to SR-60, north on SR-60 to U.S. 6, and reverse for westbound motorists.

State Route 57, Lorain County
SR-57, at its intersection with Mennel Road, is closed. The suggested detour route for southbound motorists is SR-57 to State Route 82, east on SR-82 to State Route 83, south on SR-83 to SR-57 and reverse for northbound motorists.

State Route 61, Erie County
SR-61, between State Route 2 and State Route 113, is closed. The detour route for eastbound motorists is U.S. 6 to State Route 61, south on SR-61 to State Route 2, east on SR-2 to State Route 60, north on SR-60 to U.S. 6, and reverse for westbound motorists.

State Route 113, Lorain County
SR-113, between Annis Road and Lake Street in the Village of South Amherst, is closed. The suggested detour route for westbound motorists is SR-113 to State Route 58, south on SR-58 to State Route 511, west on SR-511 to Baumhart Road, north on Baumhart Road to SR-113, and reverse for eastbound motorists.

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