Cleveland Woman’s Medication in Peril as Power Outage Continues

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A woman from the West Side of Cleveland is facing a difficult situation after being without electricity since 9:30 a.m. on Friday. The power outage has caused significant issues, including the spoilage of $140 worth of groceries and putting her diabetes medication at risk.

Nancy Dukes is a customer of Cleveland Public Power. When she called the utility company to report the outage on Friday, she said no one answered the phone. “After about 40 minutes they’re not going to answer,” Dukes said. She explained that the utility company had limited staffing due to the Independence Day holiday weekend.

Food spoiled, phones dead

Dukes had restocked her refrigerator before undergoing eye surgery earlier in the week, expecting she would not be able to leave her home. However, most of that food is now in the trash. Her son, who lives upstairs, has been refilling a cooler with ice, but the heat melts it faster than they can keep up. The rug beneath the cooler is soaked through.

“You can smell it’s really bad,” Dukes said. “And I’m telling you [Friday] that stuff was good.” Her phone has also died, which is causing additional challenges for her. She is not supposed to get sweat in her eye following the surgery, but the heat inside her home has made that unavoidable.

Recreation centers were open for the public to access air conditioning and stay cool, but Dukes couldn’t go because of a personal health reason.

Medication concerns

Dukes is diabetic, and her insulin requires refrigeration. Her pharmacist told her the medication would remain safe for roughly one to two days. By Sunday morning, she said, it will no longer be safe to use. “Sitting, praying, talking out loud, telling myself life happens, we’ve been through this before,” Dukes said.

CPP response

19 News reached out to Cleveland Public Power and received no answer. However, the utility company posted on Saturday that crews are working to restore power after severe weather caused widespread outages on Friday night. The utility’s outage map showed red across much of Cleveland’s West Side Saturday at 9:30 p.m., indicating thousands of customers without power.

To report an outage to Cleveland Public Power, residents can call this number, (216) 664-3156, or fill out a form on the CPP’s website.