Strong winds and freezing rain swept across Kosciusko County Monday, causing thousands of residents to lose power. According to Kosciusko Emergency Management Director Ed Rock, over 5,000 people lost power in the county. By this morning, only a few hundred were still without power, Rock said. No one had to use emergency shelters. According to a press release from NIPSCO, electric service to more than 10,000 NIPSCO customers scattered across northern Indiana was affected by a combination of freezing rain, low temperatures and high winds throughout the day Monday. Weather conditions caused power lines to be weighed down by ice, and slick roadways caused vehicles to slide into electric poles. Crews worked to restore power to existing customers and responded to new outages as the number of affected customers rose throughout Monday morning, the release states. At this time, only 75 houses are without power according to Katy Berger, Kosciusko REMC Communications specialist. KREMC crews worked through the night to restore nearly 1,000 outages. This morning, broken trees, wires and utility poles were the cause for 196 outages. There are still 15 utility poles down. Berger advised that everyone should be with power by tonight. All substations and major circuits are operational now and crews are working on single-phase lines. Additional crews from Jay County REMC and Boone County REMC are aiding in the restoration process, according to a press release from KREMC. “We hope to have everyone back on today,” said Bruce Goslee, KREMC CEO and president. “I would like to sincerely thank our linemen, operations personal and the KREMC members. During times like these, the true spirit of our community really shows and it makes me proud to live here.” KREMC reminds everyone to stay away from downed lines, and to contact the co-op immediately to report these issues at 574-267-6331 or 800-790-7362. To report power outages to NIPSCO, text the word “out” to 444111 or call 800-464-7726. NIPSCO features a real-time outage map online at NIPSCO.com/OutageCenter and also can be found on its social media sites.
