CLEVELAND, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency Saturday night for eight northeast Ohio counties hit by this week’s storms, saying the move “will provide swift relief to these communities.”
Hours after Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne wrote a letter to DeWine asking for help, the governor said his office and other state agencies would help ease the burden caused by the storms.
DeWine’s order affects Cuyahoga, Lorain, Portage, Lake, Ashtabula, Summit, Geauga and Trumbull counties.
“We are here for the duration and will continue to help communities in Northeast Ohio recover from the damage left behind by the storm,” DeWine said in a statement.
DeWine said he wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to come to northeast Ohio and assess the damage caused by the four tornadoes that knocked out power lines, uprooted large trees and damaged homes and buildings.
As of Saturday morning, four days after the storm, more than 110,000 FirstEnergy Corp. customers in Ohio were without power.
Ronayne’s letter to DeWine detailed the problems facing Cuyahoga County.
“Utilities have indicated that power may not be restored to all residents until late next week and that recovery from the storms will take weeks and months,” Ronayne wrote.
“To assist our residents, families, businesses and local communities and mitigate the impacts of this storm system, ongoing recovery efforts by state departments and agencies are needed.”
On Saturday night, Ronayne said he was pleased with DeWine’s help.
“We really appreciated the partnership with the governor’s office this week,” he said. “Our goal is to put ourselves in the best position to receive state and federal support.”
In an official proclamation on Friday, DeWine ordered and authorized “all departments and agencies of the state to be ready and to deploy their personnel and resources as needed to protect the lives, safety, health and property of Ohio citizens and to assist in recovery efforts in communities affected by this severe weather, if necessary and requested by local authorities.”
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reported that as of Friday, DeWine’s office said there had not been a single request for federal assistance to the Department of Health to provide medical supplies.
Other state agencies, including the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, are monitoring developments as they have administrative roles overseeing SNAP benefits and electricity utilities, respectively.
In his statement Saturday evening, DeWine said his office had not yet received “any open requests for services the state can provide to our local communities to assist in the aftermath of these storms.”
DeWine’s statement said state authorities were working with county emergency management agencies, which would assess damage in communities and relay requests for assistance to Columbus.
