Monroe County public officials are continuing to evaluate Tuesday's storm damage. The current priority is to restore power to more than 37,000 impacted homes, according to a press release from Monroe County Emergency Management.
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, 27,686 customers were without power in Monroe County, according to the outage map.
Most Monroe County customers’ power will be restored before midnight Thursday, according to an email from Liz Irwin, Duke Energy community relations manager. Duke Energy is communicating estimated restoration times with customers and on their outage map. Estimated restoration times may be adjusted due to extensive damage in some areas.
The Monroe County Board of Commissioners declared a local disaster emergency at 8 p.m. Tuesday after severe storms caused damage and power outages.
The storm caused multiple trees around Bloomington and IU campus to fall and traffic lights to be out due to the storm.
The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed a tornado occurred, although it was reported that straight-line winds damaged homes. There have been no reports of injury thus far, according to the press release.
The press release asks impacted residents in Monroe, Owen, Virgo and Clay counties to call 211 or visit in211.communityos.org/ to report damages. According to the press release, 36 damages have been reported in Monroe County and 56,000 power outages have been reported statewide as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.
The Department of Natural Resources staff are removing debris from the significant damage reported at Monroe County Lake.
Monroe Lake beach, beach house, marina and Activity Center are closed Wednesday and will likely remain closed through the weekend, according to their Facebook.
Public safety personnel are coordinating cooling centers at eight locations June 26 – June 29 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to support those impacted by the storm. The cooling stations are for those who do not have air conditioning to cool down. Those locations include:
- Bloomington Fire Station 1 (Headquarters) - 226 S. College Ave., Bloomington
- Ellettsville Fire Department Headquarters - 5080 W. 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
A location for bottled water for residents will be announced soon.
Indiana Volunteer Organizations After Disaster, Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, cleanup and sawyer crews are mobilizing across the impacted areas to help remove debris.
Bloomington’s Salvation Army established a shelter on 111 N. Rogers St. and will serve dinner at 5 p.m. Entry to the shelter must be before 8 p.m.
Monroe County residents needing immediate shelter assistance due to storm damage can reach Monroe County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Justin Baker: justinbaker@co.monroe.in.us or 812-349-2546.
The Indiana Memorial Union is open to the public, according to an IMU Instagram post. The IMU has power, food for sale, Wi-Fi, outlets and more available.
“Stop by if you need to recharge, refuel, or relax after Tuesday’s storm,” the post reads.
