As of this morning, the number of NIPSCO and Kosciusko REMC customers in the county who are without power has dropped significantly.
In an email late Wednesday night, NIPSCO reported there were 850 customers in Warsaw, 460 in Syracuse and 225 in Pierceton without power. NIPSCO expects that power will be restored to all 1,535 customers by mid-afternoon today.
At 8 a.m. this morning, NIPSCO said there were 286 Warsaw customers without power.
NIPSCO has more than 170 employees working to restore power to its customers, as well as additional staffing for its 24-hour call center to better serve its customers.
As for Kosciusko REMC, it also has made significant strides in restoring power to its members. During Wednesday alone, REMC was able to restore power to more than 1,000 of its members.
In an email Wednesday afternoon, Communications Specialist Troy Cozad, of Kosciusko REMC, said at 2 p.m. there were 3,500 members without power. At 5:30 p.m., there were 2,500 members without power.
During a phone interview this morning, Cozad said there were fewer than 1,000 members without power in the county.
“We have brought in eight additional crews from other REMCs to help restore power to our members,” Cozad said. “That brings the total number of crews we have working to 16. We are estimating that power will be restored by late Thursday, but you never know what will happen during the day.”
The widespread power outages can be attributed to heavy snow on Tuesday and melting snow on Wednesday that caused lines to snap back into place like rubber bands, breaking lines and utility poles, Cozad said.
At its peak, REMC had 3,500 members without power.
“At this point it is difficult to tell how many homes have been affected from Tuesday’s storm,” Cozad said. “There were homes affected from the initial storm, then homes affected from the meltdown. At this point it is hard to tell how many homes have been affected.”
With thousands of homes affected by power outages, the Kosciusko County Red Cross provided shelter to those affected. The shelter was at Warsaw United Methodist Church for those without heat to have a safe and warm place to sleep. The Red Cross opened the shelter at 9 p.m. Wednesday, but members of the Red Cross said no one took advantage of the shelter.
In addition to homes without power, Kosciusko County is under a flood warning due to the 7-1/2 inches of snow Warsaw received and the 9 inches North Webster got.
Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock expects the flood warning to be around for a while.
“Prior to the snow, we had two to three inches of rain that saturated the ground,” Rock said. “In the next few days the weather is supposed to warm up and we are supposed to get another third of an inch of rain. If the rain comes and the weather is above freezing, the snow will melt and runoff even faster, causing issues.”
Rock said there is a huge amount of water and snow in fields and open areas that will run into streams and drains that are full, and it is just a matter of time before there is flooding.
Rock said there are sandbags and sand available at the Kosciusko County Highway garage on Old 30E, and the sand and bags will be available as long as people need it. Make sure to bring your own shovel to fill the bags.
