THREE RIVERS, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) crews have restored nearly 3,000 customers after last night’s severe storms caused widespread outages. Approximately 37,800 customers were still without power as of 11:00 a.m., down from a peak of 40,700.
About 450 I&M personnel and contractors are working across northeast Indiana and southwest Michigan, with an additional 450 mutual assistance personnel on the way to help get the lights and the air conditioning back on for our customers and communities.
Winds up to 98 mph, which is a wind speed of a category 2 hurricane, caused many trees and limbs to fall, breaking utility poles, damaging equipment and taking down power lines. The utility says crews have found more than 60 broken or damaged poles as they continue to assess the widespread damage. The number of fallen trees is also hampering restoration efforts, as in some places crews must clear trees from roads just to access equipment to begin repairs.
The restoration time for the Three Rivers area is 11:00 p.m. Wednesday and for the Buchanan area it’s 8:00 p.m. Wednesday.
Indiana Michigan Power says the estimated restoration times are when crews expect the entire area to be restored, but most customers will have their power on well before.
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