A tree fell onto a Bloomington resident's enclosed porch during a severe thunderstorm June 25, 2024.
(Devan Ridgway/WTIU)
Trees and signs are down throughout Bloomington after a storm producing 70-mile per hour winds swept through the area Tuesday evening, leaving thousands without power.
And while crews are out assessing the damage and repairing lines, homeowners and renters are left to pick up the pieces.
Adrian Kimmel, who lives on the southwest side of town, said she watched as a tree fell onto her enclosed porch.
“I had looked at my stepdaughter, and I said, ‘kind of feels like we're in a tornado,’ and then the next thing you know, you just hear crash, boom, clang, all our doors slam shut, and it was kind of like a horror movie,” she said. “I don't even know how to explain it. But it busted one of our windows in our office. There was rain everywhere, glass everywhere.”
Adrian Kimmel, Bloomington resident. (Devan Ridgway/WTIU)
While they wait for an insurance adjuster to assess the damage, Kimmel said they’ve been told to hold off on having the massive trunk removed, leaving them with a broken window in the meantime.
“As of right now, no, there's no roof damage,” she said. “We're waiting for the tree removal people — they said it would be like five to seven days to get the entire tree out. So, we're hoping, fingers crossed and prayers deep that it's just the window.”
Kimmel and her family are just one example of what’s happened all over the city.
Duke Energy reported 46,000 Bloomington customers were without power into Wednesday morning, about 70% of customers in the city.
Other residents have reported significant damage to their roofs and vehicles.
Angeline Protogere, principal communication consultant at Duke Energy, said they brought in 730 more workers to help get power back up throughout the state.
"Statewide, we had more than 95,000 customers affected by the storms that ripped through the State on Tuesday, and Bloomington and Terre Haute were ground zero, in terms of damage and power outages," she said.
Most customers in Monroe County will be restored by midnight on June 27, although restoration estimates may be adjusted for customers that experienced extensive damage.
The Bloomington Police said via email the amount of calls for service due to the storm are extremely high.
Bloomington Fire department Chief Roger Kerr said the preliminary run total of calls generated last night from the storm was about 80. Those ranged from downed power lines, trees in homes and fires.
He said they had three structure fires that were storm related.
Near the Bryan Park area, Derek Dunham has been without power for almost a day. He also had a large tree was down in his front yard.
“It's sad to see it go because it's a big old tree. But it luckily didn't damage the house or anything.”
He said he and his roommates called Duke Energy and their landlord. A crew arrived around 9 a.m. Wednesday to start clearing debris.
Closer to campus in the Elm Heights area, Scott Russell Sanders is also without power. He went to the IU English Department emeriti office to charge his phone and other devices this morning.
Scott Russell Sanders, Bloomington resident. (Max Rebolledo/WTIU)
He said this is the worst storm he’s seen in the 51 years he’s lived in Bloomington.
He cleared debris from the storm from his yard and sidewalk. There was a large branch that fell in the street, which he and a neighbor moved to the side so cars could pass.
“Very large branches came down, that completely blocked Fess Avenue for a while, and the neighbor and I came out and moved the larger limbs to the side so the cars could get through,” he said. “And we assume that at some point the city, a city crew will come and finish the job.”
Sanders said he’s grateful to the city and Duke crews for their work.
