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Cooling Stations Offer Storm Victims Relief Across Region


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Emergency aid workers are opening cooling stations to allow storm victims without power refuge from the sweltering heat.

The Athens Recreation Center and Ohio University's Baker Center are both offering shelter.  Baker Center will be open until 10 p.m. Saturday and will re-open Sunday beginning at 8 a.m.

Several volunteer fire departments are also extending their offers to act as a cool place to rest for residents.  Those fire departments include:

– The Plains

– Coolville

– Albany

– Waterloo

The Plains Nazarene Church is also acting as a cooling station.

In Fairfield County, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Jon Kochis says his office closed their operations at the Red Cross Building at 4 p.m. to move to the Maple Street United Methodist Church on East Wheeling Street. The space will serve as an overnight emergency shelter.

In Muskingum County, Red Cross workers announced the armory on McFarland Drive in Cambridge will serve as a shelter for victims and anyone in need of a cool space.

And the Crooksville High School in Perry County is acting as a Red Cross emergency shelter.

In a release from the Red Cross, anyone who plans to stay in a shelter is encouraged to bring prescription or emergency medication with them, extra clothing, as well as pillows and blankets.  Any special items for children, such as diapers or formula, should also be packed and brought.

If you need help locating a shelter, you can call the Red Cross at 614-251-1775.