Tuesday morning storms down trees, branches; no injuries reported

LAFAYETTE, Ind. ― High winds from storms rolling through Tippecanoe County early Tuesday knocked down some trees and sheared branches from trees, but no one was injured, Tippecanoe County Emergency Management Director Jeff Houston said.

A tree fell on a vacant mobile home in a park west of West Lafayette, Houston said, noting that no one was injured since the home was empty.

The storms hit shortly after midnight, bringing rain, high winds, lightning and thunder, but it had cleared the area by 7 a.m.

More: Map of reported damage across Illinois and Indiana

Lafayette and West Lafayette police reported trees and branches down.

Lafayette police Sgt. Shawn Verma said about 8:40 a.m. Tuesday that the downed trees and branches had been cleaned away from streets, and West Lafayette police Capt. Adam Ferguson said there was no major damage.

Lafayette police indicated that power outages had knocked out several traffic lights in the area around Sagamore Parkway, South Street and Shenandoah Drive.

Duke Energy's online power outage map indicated at 9 a.m. Tuesday that roughly 3,000 customers in the area were still without power.

"Duke Energy’s Greater Lafayette territory saw extensive damage from the high winds that ripped through the area," Duke spokesperson Dagny Zupin said in an email. "We had a peak of around 9,500 customers out in Tippecanoe County a little after midnight. Thanks to the overnight efforts of crews, we are down to 3,500 without power as of 9:30 a.m.

"Over a dozen vegetation and line crews from Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky will arrive mid-morning (Tuesday) to supplement our local workforce and expedite repairs," Zupin said. "Our priority is to repair large power lines and other infrastructure that will return power to the greatest number of customers as safely, quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Crews then can work on repairs affecting individual neighborhoods and homes."

Tipmont REMC's online power outage map indicated about 9 a.m. that a little more than 1,000 customers in Tippecanoe, Montgomery and Fountain counties lost service. By 10:15 a.m., the map indicated that all customers' power had been restored.

West Lafayette announced that the city's pool is closed because it does not have power. It will reopen after electricity is restored, according to the city's news release.

The National Weather Service forecasts for the Lafayette area indicate a chance of thunderstorms between 5 and 11 p.m. Tuesday. There also is a 20% chance of thunderstorms on Wednesday, according to the weather service forecast.

Thursday and Friday are forecast to be sunny with highs in the mid-70s, according to the National Weather Service.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Tuesday morning storms down trees, branches; no injuries reported