Power Restored in Most of County after Weekend Storm
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Though the high winds caused a bit of a setback Sunday, most of the power in the county had been restored as of this morning after being knocked out Friday afternoon from the severe storm.
Emily Cowan, Kosciusko REMC manager of marketing and customer service, said this morning, “We had almost everyone restored yesterday afternoon before the high winds came through.”
The high winds caused an additional 300 to 400 homes to lose power, and Cowan said additional crews were sent out.
As of this morning, Cowan said, either customers should have their power restored or crews have been assigned to them. In some cases, electricians may have to be sent out. Power will be restored to everyone as soon as it possibly can.
“Our guys are exhausted,” she said. “It’s been a long weekend. They sacrificed their whole weekend.”
An REMC press release advises the public to always stay away from downed lines, and to report any issues immediately to the cooperative at 574-267-6331 or 800-790-7362.
NIPSCO Public Affairs Manager Stephanie Vandiver said today that NIPSCO restored a large majority of its customers’ power. NIPSCO serves the northern third of Indiana.
Vandiver reported 397 customers were without power as of this morning, and NIPSCO is working quickly to get their power back on as quickly and safely as possible. Crews have been out since Friday. More than 23,000 NIPSCO customers lost power.
“We appreciate our customers being so patient with us,” she said. “We know it’s been inconvenient for them, so we appreciate them being so patient with us.”
NIPSCO’s website is www.nipsco.com, and it has a storm damage page with updates available.
Severe storms rolled into the area around 2:15 p.m. Friday after warnings from the National Weather Service were issued for Kosciusko and other counties in Northern Indiana. In the first hour of the storm, 440 9-1-1 calls were received by Kosciusko Central Dispatch.
According to Mike Sabones, National Weather Service meteorologist in charge, Syracuse, this morning, Friday’s storm was a derecho.
“We were kind of at the beginning of it,” Sabones said. “A derecho is a very long-lived line of thunderstorms that become violent. It built strength as it continued to the East.”
Typically, he said, a derecho does not lead to a tornado, but is usually associated with very strong winds.
“It moved through pretty fast,” Sabones said.
The area covered by the Syracuse NWS goes from Berrien County to Lima, Ohio. They began issuing warnings for the area starting at 1 p.m. Friday, and continued until after 4 p.m.
Storms Sunday were not as violent as Friday’s, Sabones said. Primarily, it was in Kosciusko County and the southern part of the county.
“It did produce enough wind to cause limbs down and power outages,” he said.
As for today, Sabones said, “We’re not looking for anything like Friday. The thing is, we have more moisture in the air than a week ago. As a result, we are getting more disturbances in the air so we’ll see more storms pop up.”
Today after 2 p.m., he said there’s a 30 percent of storms, with a high today around 97, with a 30 percent chance before 8 p.m.
For the next couple of days, Sabones said there’s a small chance of scattered thunderstorms through Wednesday.
If anyone was lucky enough to get rain over the weekend, they may have seen their lawns perk up. The problem is, on a typical hot day, the top of the soil loses one-fourth of an inch of moisture.
“When we get rain, it helps, it rejuvenates, but it doesn’t last long,” Sabones said. “We’ve digged ourselves a pretty big hole.”
According to information from the Kosciusko County Highway Department, provided by Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Chad Hill, 24 roads were closed over the weekend because of downed power lines. Six remained as of this morning.
Those roads include: CR 800W between Shilling Road and CR 200S; CR 750W between CRs 100N and 200N; CR 1200S between CRs 300E and 400E; CR 300E between Ind. 14 and CR 1200S; CR 1300S between County Farm Road and CR 100E; and CR 100S between CRs 550W and 600W.
According to a press release, State Farm Insurance offered the following power outage tips.
– Never use candles for emergency lighting, use flashlights.
– Turn off or disconnect any appliances, equipment or electronics that were on when the power went out. When power comes back on, it may come back with momentary “surges” or “spikes” that can damage equipment such as computers and motors in appliances like the air conditioner, refrigerator, washer or furnace. Leave one light on so you know when the power returns.
– Avoid opening the refrigerator and freezer. This will help keep your food as fresh as possible. If you must eat food that was refrigerated or frozen, check it carefully for signs of spoilage.
– Use generators safely. If you have a portable generator, only run it outdoors with adequate ventilation. Never use a generator indoors or in attached garages. The exhaust fumes contain carbon monoxide which can be deadly if inhaled.
– Listen to the radio for updates.
– Do not refreeze any dairy products, seafood or food that has thawed completely. If in doubt, throw it out. Immediately throw out any food with a strange color or odor.
– If you have damage to your home or car, call your insurance company right away.
– If it is safe to do so, make any temporary repairs to prevent further damage such as tarping a roof, covering broken windows with plywood or tarps etc.
– Save any receipts for supplies bought for repairs, you could be reimbursed.
– Document your damage with photos and start an inventory list of items damaged.
