Nearly 17,000 We Energies customers in southeastern Wisconsin were without power as of 12:20 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, after a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area.
As of 1:00 p.m., the total number of customers without power had ticked down to 16,271.
Communities with the most impacted customers include Milwaukee, Watertown, Muskego, New Berlin, Hales Corners and Wauwatosa. Milwaukee alone had more than 7,000 customers without power, We Energies’ outage map shows.
Many of those areas were under a severe thunderstorm warning until 12 p.m. Sunday. More scattered thunderstorms could develop later this evening, according to the National Weather Service, but they aren’t expected to be as severe.
Dane County was also under a severe thunderstorm warning earlier in the day, but an outage map from Madison Gas and Electric showed only about 128 customers without power.
“Our crews are out restoring power to customers in southeast Wisconsin,” We Energies spokeswoman Amy Jahns said.
“We are still assessing damage, but we have reports of trees and wires down and branches that have made contact with our equipment. Customers should stay at least 25 feet away from any downed wires, and report the downed wire to We Energies or a local law enforcement agency right away,” Jahns said.
We Energies reminds customers to report outages online or use their app to get the latest information on a power restoration timeline. More safety information is available on their website.
Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: More than 16,000 without power after severe thunderstorm in Wisconsin
Reporting by Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
