Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Friday, July 20, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Thunderstorms have raked much of Indiana, leaving thousands of power customers without service.
Wind gusts up to 66 mph were reported at the Mount Comfort Airport, and winds reached 72 mph in McCordsville.
Duke Energy says more than 6,000 of its customers in central and southern Indiana experienced power outages Thursday, including about 3,000 in the Madison area along the Ohio River and about 2,000 in Hamilton County north of Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Power and Light reports more than 3,000 of its customers saw their power go out, mostly on the northeast side of Indianapolis.
The Indianapolis Indians game at Victory Field and the Iron Maiden concert at Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville were both delayed due to the storm.
The National Weather Service reported two-thirds of an inch of rain fell on Kokomo and more than a quarter inch of rain fell at one of its Indianapolis reporting sites.
RTV6's Kevin Gregory reported 1.6 inches of rain on Indianapolis' northeast side.
Thursday's rainfall brought the total July rainfall to .68 inches, preventing July 2012 from becoming the driest July on record in Indianapolis.
The Fishers Fire Department responded to eight reports of lightning strikes during the storm. Officials said none of the strikes resulted in a fire.
The Westfield Fire Department said they responded to one confirmed lightning strike during the storm.
"When the storm was happening I heard a very loud clap, when the lightening struck. And I said that sounded like it hit something like a tree," said Sally Perry, a resident at Lake Castleton Apartments.
It turned out that Perry heard lightning hitting an apartment building at the complex, which is located at East 77th Street and North Shadeland Avenue. The resulting fire damaged at least six apartments.
"We walk out and there's a lot of smoke and there's just a bunch of firetrucks coming, and I mean the boom that we heard was pretty nasty," said resident Krista Heater.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.