Power expected back for many Monroe County electric utility customers by midnight Thursday

By mid-afternoon on Wednesday, the Duke Energy outage map showed an estimated time for restoration of power for many areas of Monroe County by Thursday at midnight (June 27 at 11:59 p.m.)

In a 4:30 p.m. email message, Duke Energy notified media that most, not all, Monroe County customers would have their power restored by Thursday at midnight. Many customers could have their power restored sooner than that, according to the message.

Only customers who can safety receive power can have their power restored, according to Duke’s message, so if the meter box has been pulled away from a house, that would preclude power restoration.

Duke’s efforts to restore power come after a fierce storm blew threw the area on Tuesday around 4 p.m. knocking out power to around 45,000 electrical utility customers. By 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Duke Energy’s outage map showed closer to 36,000 customers in the Monroe County area who were still without power.

Updated June 27, 2024 at 4 p.m. Monroe County Emergency Management Agency has issued a news release with a roundup of status and some resources.  The section on food and water reads like this:

Food/Water
Hoosier Hills Food Bank will offer a free emergency food distribution 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday at 2333 West Industrial Park Drive. An assortment of both perishable and non perishable goods will be provided. Limit two households per vehicle, no exceptions.

Community donations are welcome as well by contacting hhfoodbank.org or by sending a contribution to P.O. Box 697, Bloomington IN 47402.

Additionally, residents on SNAP benefits may be eligible replace lost food by contacting the local Monroe County Division of Family Resources, 1531 S. Curry Pike, Suite 300, Bloomington, IN, (800- 403-0864) or https://fssabenefits.in.gov/bp/.

Bottled water distribution will be held from 3-8 p.m. today at Sherwood Oaks Church, 2700 E. Rogers Road. Residents in need can drive in and pick up two cases (maximum) of water, and the water will be distributed from 2-8 p.m. Friday.

In a 12:30 p.m. Wednesday news release, Duke Energy  Indiana President Stan Pinegar is quoted saying that Duke has brought in 730 additional workers—linemen, damage assessors and tree clearing workers—to supplement Indiana’s workforce.

A news release from Monroe County’s emergency management agency (EMA) indicated no injuries but several damaged homes in Monroe, Owen, Vigo and Clay counties.

Residents with damage to their living quarters in those four counties are being asked to call 211 to report damage or visit the 211 website.

By 3 p.m. on. Wednesday, 36 damage reports in Monroe County had been received by Indiana 211, according to the EMA news release.

On Tuesday night, a local disaster declaration was issued for Monroe County by county commissioners. The state of disaster lasts for seven days.

Cooling stations have been set up in Bloomington, Ellettsville and Unionville for June 26, June 27, June 28, June 29, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Here are the locations of the cooling stations.

• Bloomington Fire Station 1 (Headquarters)
  226 South College Ave, Bloomington
• Ellettsville Fire Department Headquarters
  5080 West State Road 46, Ellettsville
• Monroe Fire Protection District Station 22 – Perry
  3953 South Kennedy Drive, Bloomington
• Monroe Fire Protection District Station 21 – Clear Creek
  9094 South Strain Ridge Road, Bloomington
• Monroe Fire Protection District Station 23 – Indian Creek
  8019 South Rockport Road, Bloomington
• Monroe Fire Protection District Station 25 – Bloomington
  5081 North Old State Road 37, Bloomington
• Monroe Fire Protection District Station 29 – Van Buren
  2130 South Kirby Road, Bloomington
• Monroe Fire Protection District Station 24 – Benton
  7606 East State Road 45, Unionville

According to the EMA, bottled water will be available for residents at a location to be announced soon.

The Salvation Army has established a shelter at 111 N. Rogers St. in Bloomington. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m. and entry to the shelter has to be before 8 p.m. The door to the shelter will be labeled “Church Entrance.”

According to Duke Energy’s news release, besides pulling workers from other states, Duke is also moving crews from areas in Indiana less affected to those hit hardest by the storm.

The kinds of damage the crews are seeing includes broken poles, trees in power lines and downed spans of wire, according to the release. Good progress has been made on restoring the ‘power highways,’ according to the release.

Duke’s priority, as described in the release, is to repair large power lines and other infrastructure that will return power to the biggest number of customers as quickly as possible. Essential services like hospitals and water utilities are also a priority.

Around 3 p.m. in Bloomington, traffic lights from 1st and Walnut streets southward were still without power. Drivers seemed to be following basic driver safety training, treating such intersections as all-way stops.

From mid through late morning, Bloomington mayor’s office staff were out and about checking in with city street crews repairing damage to signs and signals among other things. The B Square encountered deputy mayor Gretchen Knapp and communications director Desiree DeMolina as they returned to city hall.

Several government meetings have been canceled or rescheduled.

Monroe County commissioners put off their regular 10 a.m. Wednesday meeting until Friday at 10 a.m.

The Monroe County vote center study committee meeting, which had been scheduled for 5 p.m. on Wednesday, has been canceled.

The Monroe County election board meeting, which was set for Thursday at 1 p.m., has been canceled.