2,000 Duke customers without power in Hamilton, Madison counties
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Many in central Indiana experienced power outages Wednesday after strong winds hit the area.
Winds began decreasing in the latter half of Wednesday afternoon as colder air has moved in, Storm Track 8 meteorologists report.
Power crews were showing progress after tens of thousands of customers were left without power.
About 8:40 p.m., Duke Energy reported about 2,000 customers in eastern Hamilton and southwestern Madison counties lost power due to extreme weather. Power was expected to be restored by 11 p.m., Duke said.
Just after 9:50 p.m., Duke was reporting 2,889 people without power while IPL said 3,122 of their customers did not have power. Indiana Michigan Power was reporting 2,386 customers without electricity.
Indianapolis Power and Light says they have 200 people addressing the power outages. IPL says it had up to 40,000 outages at one point. They say as soon as they fix one area, another goes down. In this constant battle with the weather, it leaves many people without power for prolonged periods of time.
One woman told News 8 she lost power while out of the house and couldn’t get back in because the power to her garage door was out. People she knew were trying to break into the home.
“Yeah, it’s my husband and my neighbor,” Jamie Deer said. “We have such amazing neighbors. But apparently our house is too secure, which is a blessing! But that’s OK, and it would be nice to be able to go inside. I don’t really care. I had kids that were going to have friends come over today. It’s OK. We’re going to take it remote. So, I should probably call them though and make sure they have power. I wish I would have thought better this morning. I would have at least kept our screen door locked. We have keys to our house, just no way to get to the lock to get in. So I would have thought about that, but when you’re rushing around in the morning headed to work and your kids are off school, you’re not thinking about that. I worry more about like, power lines falling on us or tree limbs when we’re driving more than anything.”
We have a High Wind Warning from I-70 and points north and a Wind Advisory for I-70 and points south. Both of those go until 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Winds are expected to be sustained from 30-35 mph while gusts could be pushing 50-60 mph.
The winds damaged the awning over the gas pumps at a Phillips 66 gas station on Keystone Avenue just south of I-65 on the south side. The owner said he was talking with a customer when the wind tore off part of the awning. No injuries were reported.
About 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis, Portland Police Department reported winds broken storefront windows for a restaurant under construction and downed a large tree in a residential area.
Closings due to high winds, power outages
- Opening night of “Lights at the Brickyard” holiday display at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
- Carmel Christkindlmarkt and the Ice at Center Green
- Carmel City Hall
- The ice rink at Noblesville’s Federal Hill Commons park.