Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) has restored power to more than 80% or 44,000 customers whose service was disrupted by several waves of bad weather over the weekend.

Hundreds of crews from seven states, working up to 16-hour days in icy conditions, have been working across the hard-hit South Bend/Elkhart area as well as damaged areas in southwest Michigan to restore power. Crews placed a priority on restoring power to critical and essential community establishments such as hospitals, area nursing homes, police and fire departments and area schools.

I&M identified 100 spans of wires that were down as well as a dozen broken or damaged poles, reflecting the extent of the damage caused by freezing rain, ice and snow.

More than 660 I&M and AEP employees along with our business partners will continue restoration until the power is back on to all customers who lost service due to the New Year’s Day weekend weather. Power to about 100 remaining southwest Michigan customers is expected to be restored Monday, and I&M estimates all remaining customers in the South Bend/Elkhart area will be restored by 3 p.m. Monday. Most customers will be restored before then. (See the “Stay Informed” section below.)

Though the worst of the weather has subsided, I&M strongly encourages customers to beware of possible lingering safety issues:

• Stay away from any downed wires and report them to I&M.  You can call us at 800-311-4634, report on our app or website, or call 911.
• Trees could fall or drop limbs at any moment. Please look up.
• It is vital to the safety of our customers and crews that customers who use generators must follow all the guidelines for proper use.
• Some roads remain icy. Please use extreme caution if you must walk outside or drive.
• Some traffic lights may still not be functioning. Please use caution and be mindful of first responders and utility workers on the roadways.
• Crews are following all CDC guidelines pertaining to COVID-19 including physical distancing. We urge the general public not to approach our crews.

APPROXIMATE OUTAGE NUMBERS:

• South Bend/Elkhart area: 10,800
• Southwest Michigan: 100

STAY INFORMED:

I&M encourages customers to use the Indiana Michigan Power app to monitor the status of any outage affecting your home or business. IndianaMichiganPower.com/App

You can sign up for text and email alerts on the app or at IndianaMichiganPower.com/Alerts

See the location and status of outages using our outage map at IndianaMichiganPower.com/OutageMap

For the latest updates please follow Indiana Michigan Power on Facebook and find us on Twitter @IN_MI_Power