Power restoration gets finishing touches

PAYNE, Ohio (WANE)--Tuesday marked the first full day power was completely restored in Paulding County, Ohio.  It's the same story across the northwest corner of the state.  For many, it meant the end of a more than 10 day power outage.

As crews put the final electrical touches on traffic lights, it was a sight for sore eyes in the small town of Payne, Ohio .  As the last traffic light in Payne came on, it was a sign that folks could get back to their normal lives.  The light had been out since June 29.

“A lot of people compared it to living in a third world country.  People just can't believe that we went that long without power and that we were able to survive it with that amount of heat,” said Joseph Garmyn with the Payne Volunteer Fire Department.

Like many places devastated by the storm, the return of electricity in Payne has received a lot of praise.  A church sign in town displayed the message “And God said let there be lights.”

Though power was back, the effects of the June 29 storm remained. Employees at the Payne Super Valu grocery store scrambled to restock the shelves.  They were forced to throw out at least $10,000 in groceries because of the outages.

“We got a shipment of Friday. We got a shipment on Sunday.  We got a shipment Monday, and we got a shipment Tuesday,” said Rachel Rager, Payne Super Valu manager.  “People were out by the front of the road flagging people down to come take the free ice cream before we threw it in the dumpster.  So we gave away what we could before we pitched it.”

The Payne Volunteer Fire Department became a refuge for folks in the area.  It handed out thousands of bags of ice, packs of water, and meals during the outages.

Reminders of the storm are still all over northwest Ohio.  But with power back, the small town said it's now a little stronger.

“It was not fun,” said Garmyn.  “It was not a good week for anyone but we made it through and if we can handle that, we can handle anything.”

Though the outages are over, the cleanup process has only begun in northwest Ohio.  Paulding County Emergency Management is trying to identify people who own and live in a home, have damage, but don’t have insurance.  Officials ask people meeting those qualifications to call (419) 399-3500.