Cohasset, MN – A second wave of severe thunderstorms in less than 48 hours is affecting electric service for 5,600 Lake Country Power members, as of 4:30 a.m., Monday, June 23. This storm follows Saturday’s tornado warnings and storm that impacted more than 7,000 co-op members. Most of the weekend’s outages were restored by late Sunday night.

Line crews were immediately dispatched early Monday morning, but it’s too early to know the full extent of the damages as crews work their way through each impacted area.

Currently, Lake Country Power line crews are working to restore service at 82 outage points affecting 4,000 members, as of 10:00 a.m., primarily impacting the southeastern locations of Lake Country Power’s service area, such as Big Sandy Lake, Cloquet and south of Virginia.

The outages were caused by heavy winds toppling trees on lines early Monday morning. Lightning strikes may be a contributing factor as well. At least seven broken poles have been identified, and there could be more as crews work their way through the debris.

All available crews are working to restore power, including Lake Country Power’s internal construction crews. Lake States Construction is assisting with pole replacements. Crews are also removing significant tree damage off the Peary Substation and Lakeland Substation.

“As a reminder to members and the public, if you see a downed power line, stay away from it and call Lake Country Power to report it immediately,” said Derek Howe, P.E. chief operating officer.

Members may call the cooperative at 1-800-421-9959 to report an outage, or visit the Outage Center online at www.lakecountrypower.coop or http://outage.lcp.coop for an outage status.

Lake Country Power, www.lakecountrypower.coop, is a Touchstone Energy® cooperative serving parts of eight counties in northeastern Minnesota. The rural electric cooperative provides services to more than 44,000 members and has offices located in Cohasset, Kettle River and Mountain Iron.

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Tips for extended outages:

Make sure one of the phones in your home is not a cordless phone as these require electricity to charge, but also have a mobile phone for backup and charge it in your vehicle, if necessary.

*Use a battery powered flashlight, not candles.

*Keep a battery operated radio handy to listen for outage information and updates

*Turn off electrical equipment you were using before the power went out

*Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Food should keep for up to 48 hours in a freezer, if the door remains closed. If the outage persists, cover your refrigerator or freezer with a blanket, make arrangements to store food at another location, or purchase dry ice.

*Drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.

*Essential supplies: flashlight, batteries, radio, extra supply of water, food.

*Turn off and unplug your computer if you were using it. Buy a surge protector to protect the machine when power comes back on.

*Keep extra water on hand in jugs or the bathroom tub for flushing the toilet as needed.