More than 15,000 without power in region

LIMA – More than 15,000 people in the region are without electricity, as wintry weather took out the electricity.

Shelly Clark, spokeswoman for AEP Ohio, said there were issues with transmission and subtransmission conductors/line feeding into area substations.

Here's a rundown of the power issues this morning, from the AEP Web site as of noon.:

• Findlay area, 6,690 customers.

• Kenton area, all restored.

• Lima area, 960 customers, power out at 6:49 a.m., with an estimated restoration time of 2 p.m. today.

• Ottawa area, 1,269 customers, power out at 7:03 a.m., with an estimated restoration time of within 48 hours.

• Van Wert area, 4,701 customers, power out at 6:49 a.m., with an estimated restoration time of within 48 hours.

According to Clark, power was out to more than 1,300 customers served by the Leipsic station around 4:51 a.m. because of a transmission line knocked down by the weather. Power was restored at 6:49 a.m.

Clark said crews are out assessing and patrolling areas. The estimated time for those who have lost power to be restored is three hours from the time power went out, she said.

To prepare for the storm, AEP Ohio employees had two conference calls to focus resources on the area, Clark said. That brought 70 employees and 56 trucks into Western Ohio on Thursday to prepare for potential problems. An additional 90 contractor employees and 70 trucks arrived this morning to assist with storm restoration efforts.

Read more about this story later today on LimaOhio.com. This story was updated at 7:52 a.m., 10:52 a.m., 11:38 a.m., 11:41 a.m. and 12:10 p.m.