Calcutta Fire Department distributes water and supplies during power outage

The Calcutta Fire Department stepped in to assist township residents still without power following severe storms earlier in the week.

According to posts on the department's Facebook page on Wednesday, a free drive-through distribution site was established at the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department. Starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, volunteers handed out bottled water, jugs of water, apples, bananas, oranges, and baby wipes until supplies ran out.

The fire department noted that supplies were going quickly due to the high number of people without both power and water.

The effort was made possible by a donation from the local Walmart in East Liverpool, along with the assistance of Calcutta Volunteer Firefighters and St. Clair Township Police Officer Izzy Perez.

The fire department also urged residents with medical issues affected by the outage to contact their EMS division at 330-386-5311 for ambulance assistance.

As of early Thursday, power remained out to nearly 1,000 homes and businesses in southern Columbiana County, including the Calcutta area. American Electric Power (AEP) reported that the outages, which began Tuesday night, were concentrated around East Liverpool, Calcutta, and Wellsville. While FirstEnergy had restored power in the northern part of the county, AEP and Carroll Electric Cooperative continued restoration efforts.

AEP anticipates having power restored to its customers by midnight Thursday.