MONROE COUNTY, Ind. — A local disaster emergency declaration was issued Tuesday evening for Monroe County.
According to a Facebook post from the Monroe County Emergency Management Agency, much of the area was impacted or immediately threatened by excessive damage from rain and wind.
An emergency declaration signed by the county board of commissioners says public structures, trees and power lines are severely damaged in Monroe County.
“All public offices and employees of Monroe County are hereby directed to exercise the utmost diligence in performing the duties required of them during the duration of the emergency,” the statement read, “and in execution of laws, regulations and emergency directives – state of emergency”. and local. »
The statement also calls on Monroe County residents to cooperate with public officials when carrying out emergency operations.
“All citizens are called upon and requested to comply with necessary emergency measures, cooperate with public officials and disaster service forces in the execution of emergency operations plans,” the statement read, “ and to obey and comply with lawful instructions from duly identified officers.” »
Monroe County EMA encourages homeowners to report structural damage their homes and buildings may have sustained through Indiana 211. Damage can be reported by visiting in211.org or by calling 211 or 866-211- 9966.
Before the disaster was declared, officials issued a travel advisory in Monroe County because large debris had fallen onto roads during Tuesday’s storms.
Two Herons Marina in Bloomington posted on Facebook Tuesday evening that the entire marina had been “disconnected from land” due to severe weather.
“The marina was severely damaged by today’s storms. There is no electricity, no sewers, no water pipes and the entire marina is disconnected from land,” the social media post said. “We will provide further updates on boat rentals as soon as we can.”
Photos courtesy of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
As of 6:40 a.m. Wednesday, Duke Energy reported that about 42,000 people in and around Bloomington were without power. The company also said about 10,000 of its Terre Haute customers were experiencing outages.
On its website, Duke Energy said wind gusts of more than 60 mph mangled power lines, poles and other electrical equipment. The company said its crews are making repairs where possible, although power restoration times may be subject to change as crews are still fully assessing the damage.
