TOLEDO, Ohio — As severe weather approaches, local experts provided WTOL 11 with a better understanding of the potential damage it could do, and what you should be thinking about to prepare for it.
Jeff Klein, the director of Wood County's Emergency Management Agency, said the biggest concern actually comes from the wind, which is likely to down power lines.
WTOL 11's weather team predicts winds this weekend could exceed 50 mph.
Toledo Edison spokesperson Lauren Siburkis said if the storm is as powerful as WTOL 11 is predicting, they likely won't be able to fix any downed power lines until the storm is over because not safe for their employees to fix downed power lines if winds are more than 40 miles an hour.
"If the winds forecasted do stick to the plan and we do see those sustained high winds, it could slow our process down if we're facing outages because we can't get our crews up in the trucks to make repairs," she said.
This means some across the area might go without power until the storm is over. Klein said it's crucial that people are ready ahead of time in case they lose power to their homes.
"People might be at home for several days without heat, without electricity, and that's where emergency management comes in, to help those folks prepare," Klein said.
And he said people should start preparing in the days before the storm.
"Once it starts, people said what should I do, where should I go? One of the messages we point out to people is you need to go out before the event happens," he said.
Klein recommends having extra water, food and clothes on hand so you don't have to brave the conditions of the storm.
"Anybody that goes out on the road, four-wheel drive, not four-wheel drive, or whatever vehicle you have, we're really expecting to have a lot of traffic problems if people go out," Klein said.
Instead, the safest bet will be for to just stay inside and wait out the storm. Anyone who has fireplaces, portable space heaters or extra layers should get them ready now, Klein said.
And if lines are knocked down during the storm, Toledo Edison will work to restore them as soon as it's safe to do so, Siburkis said.
"It doesn't matter if it's Christmas Day, we do have staffing plans in place so we can hit the ground running to get customers restored to service," she said.
And if you have time tonight or tomorrow, check your nearby power lines for overhanging dead branches and try to clear them off safely before the storm hits, Klein said.