Duke restores power to more than half of affected Bloomington customers

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. June 27 with new information from Duke Energy.

As of 10:30 a.m. Thursday, about 16,000 Bloomington area residents remained without power, along with another 4,000 in the Terre Haute area and about 3,000 in Indianapolis.

The utility's outage map Thursday morning for many areas still showed a restoration time of 11:59 p.m. Thursday. That included about 1,000 customers in Ellettsville, about 3,000 west of Interstate 69 in Bloomington and another 8,000 in Bloomington between I-69 to the west and Ind. 446 to the east.

Posted Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

Duke Energy has said it expects to have power restored to "most customers" before Friday, but "many will be restored sooner," a spokeswoman said.

Angeline Protogere warned, however, that some homes sustained so much damage that owners or occupants may need to bring in an electrician before they can receive service.

She said the utility has about 500 people in Bloomington to help remove trees, assess damage and repair lines. She said that's about half of the workforce Duke has deployed throughout the state.

"We have brought in significant resources to do that we can to speed restoration," she said.

As of 3 p.m., about 34,000 Duke customers in the Monroe County area remained without power.

Protogere said she could not immediately say what share of customers would not have their power back by midnight Thursday or what share would have their power restored sooner.

Original story

As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, about 36,000 Duke Energy customers in the Bloomington area remained without power, nearly 22 hours after a Tuesday storm felled trees and utility poles, leaving power lines strewn across roads and sagging under branches.

“Bloomington and Terre Haute are ground zero in terms of damage,” Protogere said.

She said crews had restored power to about 6,200 customers in Monroe County as of 11 a.m., but she warned some residents might see “extended outages” because of the extent of the damage.

Protogere said the storms interrupted power to more than 70% of the utility’s customers in Monroe County.

The utility had more than 95,000 customers affected statewide and still had about 52,000 without power late Wednesday morning, including the 40,000 in Bloomington.

Duke Energy has brought in more than 730 workers to supplement its statewide workforce, including damage assessors and linemen. Protogere said damage assessment is ongoing, but the damage extent, blocked roads and the terrain are making assessments and repairs difficult.

Most of the damage occurred because strong winds of up to 70 mph uprooted trees and utility poles, Protogere said.

She said the utility sustained damage to its transmission system, including major power lines that serve as quasi-highways for power delivery, as well as smaller power lines that carry lower voltages to customers.

“Extended outages are possible in the hardest-hit areas,” she said.

Protogere said the storm caused damage as far north as Wabash, about 45 miles southwest of Fort Wayne; and as far south as Clarksville, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.

Duke Energy said in a news release that customers can stay informed by texting REG to 57801.

Avoid downed power lines

Protogere urged customers to stay away from fallen power lines and to work under the assumption that they are energized.

Duke Energy safety tips when encountering downed power lines:

• Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging.
• Consider all power lines – as well as trees, limbs and anything else in contact with power lines – energized and dangerous.
• Report all power line hazards to Duke Energy at 800-228-8485, or contact your local emergency services department or agency.
• Keep children and family pets away from areas where lines may have fallen (backyards, fields, schoolyards, etc.).
• If a power line falls across a car that you're in, stay in the car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground.
• Watch a safety video here: tinyurl.com/kxp6h7jr

This story may be updated.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.