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LAKEWOOD, Ohio (WOIO) – A power outage stretching into its second day left roughly 1,200 customers without electricity across Lakewood’s southwest side, forcing small businesses to operate on bare-bones staffing and sending at least one diabetic resident scrambling to keep insulin refrigerated.

Businesses push through with cash and calculators

At the Lakewood Garden Center, manager Isabella Dombrowski kept the doors open despite sweltering conditions inside the shop — no power, no fans.

“It is swampy and it’s disgusting and I’m pissed the power is out,” Dombrowski said.

With no electronic registers, staff switched to cash-only transactions, counting back change by hand and using phone calculators to process sales.

“We try to service people how we can, even if it’s running with bare-bones staff and our phone calculator — we will work with you,” Dombrowski said.

Resident forced to relocate insulin amid outage

For Hunter Duseau, the outage created a medical emergency.

“For me the most frustrating thing is I’m diabetic and I have to keep my insulin refrigerated, so I had to scramble to get it to my friend’s house,” Duseau said.

Mayor points to Lauderdale substation, calls out FirstEnergy

Lakewood Mayor Meghan George said the outages trace back to the Lauderdale substation, which knocked out power to much of the city’s southwest side. She visited Haze Elementary Friday morning, where FirstEnergy crews were installing a backup generator for that substation.

“I was just at Haze Elementary this morning, where FirstEnergy is installing a backup generator for this Lauderdale substation,” George said.

The mayor did not hold back in her criticism of the utility.

“For FirstEnergy to continue to fail us is completely unacceptable,” George said.

FirstEnergy responds, cites heat wave and infrastructure investment

In a statement to 19 News, FirstEnergy acknowledged the impact of the outages and attributed the strain to an extreme heat wave driving elevated electricity demand across the region.

“We understand the frustration and hardship these outages have caused for Lakewood residents, especially during this period of extreme heat,” the statement read. “Our crews, engineers and system operators have been working around the clock to restore service safely and as quickly as possible for affected customers.”

FirstEnergy said it is investing millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades and reliability improvements for Lakewood and surrounding communities and said it appreciates Mayor George’s advocacy for residents.

Power has since been restored. Power had been flickering on and off since Wednesday.

Free water available at area Giant Eagle locations

FirstEnergy said free water is available for customers beginning Thursday at 4 p.m. through Sunday evening, or while supplies last, at the following Giant Eagle locations:

• 14100 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, OH 44107
• 3050 W. 117th St., Cleveland, OH 44111
• 22160 Center Ridge Rd., Rocky River, OH 44116

Residents are also encouraged to use available cooling centers and community resources during the ongoing heat event.

Illinois transportation and law enforcement officials are reminding drivers to make safe choices during the busy Independence Day holiday travel period.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois State Police, and local law enforcement agencies have launched the annual Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, which runs through the early morning hours of July 6.

According to provisional IDOT data, Illinois recorded 17 fatal crashes and 18 traffic deaths during last year’s Independence Day holiday travel period. Four of those crashes involved drivers who had been drinking.

In addition to looking for impaired drivers, officers across the state will be increasing enforcement of seat belt, speeding, and distracted driving laws.

Officials encourage anyone planning to drink alcohol or use cannabis to arrange for a sober driver, use a rideshare service, or stay where they are instead of getting behind the wheel.