Freezing rain has been falling across parts of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana and more is expected throughout the evening.

Indiana Michigan Power has a larger number of employees and partners ready to restore power to customers should they lose service during the ice storm.

More than 650 mutual assistance crews, including hundreds from their sister companies, AEP Ohio and Appalachian Power, along with employees from Muncie and Fort Wayne, are headed to southwest Michigan and the South Bend/Elkhart area.

Line mechanics, damage assessors, tree trimming crews, and support staff are traveling from as far as Tennessee, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia, and will join I&M employees to restore to outages once it’s safe to do so.

With more freezing rain expected tonight, potential restoration efforts may be hindered due to safety issues for their crews, so the utility is asking for patience from anybody who may lose power.