Photo by Robert Tomlinson.
Photo by Robert Tomlinson.
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — Over 6,000 people in St. Joseph County were without power because of a windstorm that rolled through Monday afternoon.
According to Indiana-Michigan Power, heavy rains and strong winds reaching around 67 miles per hour contributed to the outages during the storm, which began in the late afternoon and subsided by 8 p.m.
Consumer’s Energy reported 4,385 customers were without power in St. Joseph County as of 9 p.m. Monday, while Indiana-Michigan Power said 1,846 of their customers in the county were without power at the same time. Crews from both companies worked to restore power over the next couple of days, with some areas near Centreville still without power as late as Wednesday afternoon.
““We’re grateful for the patience and understanding of our customers,” said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy’s officers in charge for restoration, in a release. “We understand it’s a hardship to lose power, which is what drives our determination as safely and efficiently as we can. To those who are still without power, know that we are standing with you and not stopping until our job is done.”
A number of trees and power lines were reported down because of the storm, which also contributed to the outages. A power line at the corner of M-86 and Lutz Road was also observed to be down and on fire because of the storm as well. In Centreville, some trees were reported down in yards, while a power pole fell down completely on South Clark Street between West Main Street and West Burr Oak Street.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
