HENRY COUNTY, Ohio — Some parts of Henry County have now been without power for three days after powerful weekend storms.
About 50-70 of Toledo Edison's electrical poles were knocked down Friday night, taking out power to thousands in the area. Now crews are working to repair the poles, but the effects it's had on the surrounding area are already visible.
Nick Nye, the deputy director of Henry County's emergency services, said the outage has affected the entire southern edge of Henry County, turning villages like Holgate into ghost towns.
Restaurants and businesses are shut down in the middle of the day, and even gas stations are closed for business. In fact, the only sound WTOL 11's crew heard in Holgate's downtown was a lone generator at a supermarket, provided by Henry County EMA.
Nye said the generator was provided so the supermarket "can keep their operation open so they didn't have to worry about any large food loss or having to feed the village."
Just a few minutes down the road in Hamler, Connie Smith is also relying on a natural gas generator built into her house. While she said she's set, many of her neighbors aren't.
"When you live in a rural area and don't have electricity, there's no water, no shower and you can't flush your toilet," Smith said.
That's why Smith has invited neighbors to use her facilities until the lights come back on.
Luckily, her neighbors won't have to wait much longer. Representatives with Toledo Edison said the crews, in conjunction with local contractors, have been working in record time.
"Our crews have made significant progress and the weather has been in our favor, and we are confident we should have those customers back up and running by tomorrow evening at the latest," Lauren Siburkis, a spokesperson for Toledo Edison, said.