UPDATED Hurricane Sandy: Thousands Without Power in Cleveland Heights

Updated at 5:42 p.m. Tuesday

More than 7,300 Cleveland Heights FirstEnergy customers out of 21,485 total, or 34 percent, still do not have power.

Updated at noon Tuesday

More than 8,800 FirstEnergy customers are now without power in Cleveland Heights.

Check out Cleveland Heights Patch's Facebook page for more information — residents are updating us on which areas are dark and telling us if they still have power.

Updated at 6:00 a.m., 7:47 a.m. Tuesday

More than 6,700 customers who have lost power so far in Cleveland Heights could remain without power until Tuesday afternoon, according to FirstEnergy.

Residents reported outages Monday night near the intersection of Fairmount and Coventry, the Severance area and along South Taylor Road on Cleveland Heights Patch's Facebook page. We've also heard that much of Cedar Lee is out.

Where are you seeing outages? Tell us in the comments.

Spokesperson Mark Durbin said that these outages are generally due to high winds brought on by Hurricane Sandy, but added that crews are in a tough spot when it comes to repairs.

"We are currently in a situation where, until the wind stops blowing, we’re not going to have a good handle on restoration time," he said. "If crews can safely make a repair we will do that, but we’re not esending crews up in bucket in 60-mile-per-hour winds."

Some repairs can be done from the ground, he stressed.

He added that if you have an outage, it's very important to report it. Customers should call 888-544-4877 if you have an outage — even if you think someone else will call — to help the company accurately track and respond to outages in the area.

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for all of Northeast Ohio effective until 4 p.m. Tuesday.

These winds will be sustained at 30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts of up to 65 miles per hour, the NWS predicts.

Residents can check current outages on FirstEnergy's website.

Crews have been sent from Ohio to the East Coast, where damage is expected to be more severe and widespread, Durbin said, but crews in Northeast Ohio are fully equipped to respond the storm.

More coverage: Hurricane Sandy in Northeast Ohio

“We would not have sent those crews if we didn’t think we had adequate staffing here to deal with outages,” Durbin added.

This message was also included on the company's website:

The Illuminating Company is experiencing widespread power outages due to severe weather in our service area. Depending on the severity of the storm's impact on the electrical system, power outages could last up to seven to 10 days. Crews are assessing the situation and will begin service restoration work as soon as it's safe to do so ...  If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, hang-up now and call 9-1-1. Remember to treat all downed wires as live and dangerous. Customers should immediately report downed wires to the Illuminating Company or local police or fire department.