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Ice storm power outages create headaches for homeowners

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An ice storm Thursday knocked out power to thousands of people.

Indianapolis Power & Light said its remaining customers without power, nearly 100, should have it restored by 5 p.m. Thursday.  

Duke Energy said, as of 3 p.m., about 38,000 customers in Indiana were still without power. The hardest-hit areas In Indiana were south of Indianapolis: Clarksville, Corydon, Madison, Seymour, Connersville and Columbus. More than 100,000 customers lost power. Duke said it was not sure how long it would be before everyone has power again. 

Indiana Michigan Power reported 3,880 Indiana customers without power about 5 p.m. Many of those customers are around Albany, Alexandria, Anderson, Elwood, Marion, Muncie and Winchester.

Central Indiana got from about a quarter of an inch to a third of an inch of freezing precipitation in the storm, according to Storm Track 8 meteorologist Marcus Bailey.  Freezing rain, according to Duke Energy causes more damage than any other form of precipitation. Duke Energy said it brought in crews from outside the state in hopes of getting people’s power restored as soon as possible. 

In Indianapolis, the Glenhill Drive neighborhood on the city’s north-side was hard-hit. IPL crews had their bucket trucks out, cleaning up the mess that mother nature left behind. 

“I was in the back of my house working on the computer and suddenly there was large white flash and you heard a boom like a transmitter had gone out,” Doug Youtsey said.

It was not a transmitter. Instead, a tree limb broke off and fell on top of a power line. 

“A power line had snapped in two and it was dangling in my back yard shooting electricity in the ground,” Youtsey said. 

No injuries were reported, but there were plenty of headaches for neighbors who said this was the second time they’ve had limbs fall onto power lines in the past month. 

“A month ago, it was so bad that it blew my fuse box out of my garage and it shorted out all the wires inside my home,” Mike Ford said.

Notes on restoring from Duke Energy

  • Restoring power after a storm can be challenging, as travel conditions are poor. Before power can be restored, crews first assess damage and determine which crews, equipment and supplies will be needed to make repairs. Because of this, customers may see damage assessors patrolling their neighborhoods before crews arrive to begin work.
  • Crews prioritize work to ensure the largest number of customers are restored as quickly as possible. Essential services, such as hospitals and emergency response facilities, are the first priority.
  • If you lose power, please turn off as many appliances and electronics as possible. This helps with restoration efforts because it reduces the immediate demand on power lines when power is restored.
  • Once your power is restored, please wait a few minutes before turning your equipment back on.