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Business as usual as long as the lights were on
SPRINGFIELD — On Monday, Sept. 15, Clark County was back in business, as long as there was the power to do so.
The Upper Valley Mall was open regular hours Monday, Sept. 15, but some stores, including Macy's and Elder-Beerman, were closed because a portion of the mall was without power, according to spokeswoman Carla Miller.
North Bechtle Avenue lost power Sunday around 4 p.m., but on Bechtle to the south past Ohio 41, power merely flickered a few times. Power at most businesses was restored around midnight.
The Golden Corral on North Bechtle Avenue lost a few shingles, but “not one bit of product,” said manager Lou Bliss, who served a larger-than-normal lunch crowd Monday.
To ensure food safety, he said all meats were immediately placed in the freezer. All produce and bakery products were placed in the main cooler, then 400 pounds of ice was placed on the floor.
At Reiter Dairy on Commerce Circle, there was minimal wind damage and the dairy processing facility never lost power, said Brian Riley, plant manager.
At Lowe's, the most popular items sold after the storm were chain saws, generators and all manner of cleaning supplies, said store manager Jeremy Austin.
Navistar International’s Springfield truck production facility was up and running as was the LexisNexis back-up facility at Nextedge Applied Research and Technology Park.
"The data center remained fully operational," said spokesman David Kurt, who added the facility is equipped with battery back-up and diesel generators.
Some local grocers had to remove frozen and refrigerated foods from cases Monday morning after their stores had been without power for more than 12 hours. Health officials visited stores and restaurants shortly before 10 a.m. to check the status of perishable products, said Dan Chatfield, Clark County's director of environmental health.
The North Limestone Street Kroger was still closed at 1 p.m. Monday, but other area Kroger stores remained open, as did the city’s two Wal-Mart stores. Meijer, on Hillcrest Avenue, remained open throughout the night after they rented a refrigeration truck to protect perishables, said meat manager Curt Johnson.
&"We were one of the lucky ones," he said. "We pretty much salvaged everything."
A few blocks surrounding the intersection of North Limestone Street and Home Road were without power Monday, closing various businesses including Kroger, Perkin's Restaurant, Rally's and Tim Horton's.
Most businesses along East Main Street had reopened Monday with the most notable exception being Frisch’s. The traffic lights at the intersection of East Main Street and Tuttle Road were completely destroyed by the wind, so no signals are available to enter or exit the East Side shopping plaza.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0371 or elroberts@coxohio.com.
