Hurricane Sandy could cause power outages beginning tonight and into tomorrow evening in Northeast Ohio, a FirstEnergy spokesperson said.

The hurricane is expected to bring strong winds to all of Northeast Ohio for a roughly 24-hour period beginning this evening.

Crews have been sent from Ohio to the East Coast, where damage is expected to be more severe and widespread, spokesperson Mark 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.

Though the company is not in “storm mode” yet, crews in Northeast Ohio have been told to prepare for storm response shifts — that’s 16 hours on and 8 hours off — and are watching the storm closely.

Durbin stressed that 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.

Before the storm hits here, prepare with these tips from the Red Cross and these tips from FirstEnergy.

Also, see this page for what to do in an outage.

You can track local outages here, and watch Patch for information as we follow this storm’s impact on our region.