Central Indiana weather: Thousands without power in Central Indiana

2022-08-01 21:45:46 By : Mr. Patrick Gao

As of 4:15 p.m. Monday, over 2,500 AES Indiana customers were without power following weather-related power outages due to severe thunderstorms that passed through Central Indiana that morning.

At one point, over 10,000 AES Indiana customers were without power Monday. Over 3,000 Duke Energy customers in Hamilton County and thousands more across the state also lost power.

NWS Indianapolis issued a severe thunderstorm warning for most of Central Indiana early Monday as storms moved through the area.

Storm warnings remained in effect for parts of Indiana through at least 10:45 a.m.

According to the warning, the storm would bring winds up to 70 mph. Damage to trees, mobile homes, roofs and buildings were possible. NWS Indianapolis said people in the path of the storm should move to an interior room on the lowest level of a building. Flash flooding may occur due to torrential rainfall, and people should not drive through flooded roadways.

As of late Monday morning, Jason Puma, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said that there would be less chances for rain Monday afternoon in Central Indiana, around a 30% chance across the I-70 corridor.

Another severe thunderstorm warning Monday is possible, but unlikely, he said.

"As we had the storms go through here this morning, it's probably pretty difficult for us to get another severe storm setup for this afternoon," Puma told IndyStar.

As of 4:15 p.m. Monday, over 2,500 AES Indiana customers were without power, according to the outage map.

Kelly Young, spokesperson for AES Indiana, said the biggest concentration of outages are on Indianapolis' west side.

"We're doing what we can to quickly and safely restore power," Young told IndyStar.

Young said there was no approximate time of restoration as of Monday morning.

For Duke Energy customers, there were over 1,400 customers without power as of 4:15 p.m. in Indiana. At the height of the outage, over 3,000 Duke Energy customers in Hamilton County were without power.

As of 4:15 p.m. Monday, over 200 Duke Energy customers in Hamilton County still remained without power, with an estimated restoration time of 9:15 p.m., according to the outage map.

Angeline Protogere, spokesperson for Duke Energy, told IndyStar that because the heavy rains and wind are moving through the utility's service area, she could not provide an exact restoration time.

Protogere said that the electric utility was "working on responding to the outages now and mobilizing additional contractors to supplement our local crews."

"Most of the problems are due to rain and wind causing trees and vegetation to interfere with power lines as well as some lightning strikes," Protogere said.

You can report an outage to AES Indiana online here: bit.ly/3SfCFtA. Report a downed power line by calling 317-261-8111.

For Duke Energy customers, you can text OUT to 57801, call 800-343-3525 or report an outage online here: bit.ly/3PT2eyQ. Report fallen power lines to Duke Energy by calling 800-769-3766.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis asks anyone with storm damage to report it to this via Twitter at @NWSindianapolis.

This article will be updated.

Contact IndyStar trending reporter Claire Rafford at crafford@gannett.com or on Twitter @clairerafford.