Repeated rounds of severe storms in Michiana are hampering efforts to restore power and, adding to the outages.
TRACK INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER OUTAGES IN REAL TIME HERE
With the severe thunderstorm that moved through the South Bend-Elkhart area during the 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. hours on Wednesday, Aug. 11, Indiana Michigan Power outages jumped from 17,000+ to 32,000+.
High winds topping 70 mph were reported by ABC 57 Meteorologist Tom Coomes in portions of Elkhart and Kosciusko Counties around 1:15 p.m. Another round of strong to severe storms is possible tonight, according to Coomes.
If you are driving through intersections where the street lights are out, you need to treat those as all-way stops.
I&M encourages customers to use the Indiana Michigan Power app to report and monitor the status of any outage affecting your home or business IndianaMichiganPower.com/App.
Stay away from any downed wires and report them to I&M. You can contact I&M by calling 1-800-311-4634, report on our app or website, or call 911.
Also, the utility advises you to use caution around debris and fences. Fallen limbs and other debris can hide downed power lines, and a downed line may be contacting a fence out of line of sight. Look around carefully. They also advise that you avoid standing water, especially if a downed wire is near, since electricity can travel through water.
RELATED: Berrien County cooling centers still open for people without power
For Severe Weather Text Alerts to your cell phone, text WEATHER to 45364. Message and data rates apply.
