This story is no longer being updated. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Thousands of people in northwest Columbus have had their electricity restored after hours of being without power. As of 11 p.m., 459 AEP Ohio customers in Franklin County remained without power. Outages started being reported just before 6 p.m. and affected as many as 17,300 customers. Columbus organizations open warming centers for winter "Restoration is underway and customers are being restored," AEP posted to social media. "Please know that our crews are working as quickly as they can in these frigid temperatures and won’t stop until everyone is restored. The cause of the outage is still being investigated. Thank you for your patience." In a later update, AEP posted that the crews need to restore equipment slowly to protect the power grid due to the extremely cold temperatures. AEP Ohio issued an extreme cold watch Wednesday and said it will be monitoring the electrical grid. Storm Team 4 forecasts temperatures reaching well below zero overnight Wednesday with wind chills below -10 degrees. In the event you lose power, AEP Ohio recommends preparing an emergency kit that includes portable phone chargers, battery-powered radio or television, and more. If you are using a space heater, set it three feet away from anything flammable and never leave it running when no one is inside that room. For food safety, keep your fridge and freezer closed during a power outage to keep perishable foods as fresh as possible. Once perishable foods begin to smell rotten, discard them immediately. Follow this link for more at-home safety tips. These frigid temperatures have prompted many of the largest school districts in central Ohio to close Wednesday. See an updated list of school closings and delays here. Find the latest forecast at this link and live traffic conditions here. And you can receive news alerts from NBC4 by downloading our apps.