The effects of now-Tropical Storm Helene are being felt across Johnson County Friday.
Helene made landfall late Thursday night on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing storm surge, high winds and rain. Now the storm is affecting Central Indiana, and is expected to bring rain and gusty winds throughout the day Friday and into the weekend.
The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has warned the storm could cause damage to trees and buildings, power outages and create dangerous driving conditions. Localized flooding also is possible.
A High Wind Warning is in effect until 11 p.m. Friday evening as northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected. The strongest winds are expected in the 4 to 8 p.m. time frame, the National Weather Service said.
Here is some of the latest information on the storm’s impacts on Johnson County.
2:15 p.m.: Live blog concludes
With power mostly restored to Johnson County and Post-Tropical Cyclone Helene’s impacts beginning to wane, this posting concludes the Daily Journal’s live blog of the storm’s impacts.
For the latest updates on Helene’s impacts in other regions, go to the Associated Press or another outlet you prefer.
2:12 p.m.: JCREMC reports 8 active outages
There are only eight active outages being reported in JCREMC’s service territory as of 2:12 p.m. Saturday, affecting 40 customers, according to the utility’s outage map.
This is down significantly from the nearly 4,000 who were affected by outages last night.
2:11 p.m. Saturday: Duke Energy restores power to 62K+ customers
Duke Energy officials say the utility has restored power to more than 62,000 Indiana customers after outages were caused by Friday’s high winds.
More than 70,000 were affected by power outages from the winds Friday. The utility made “strong progress” last evening and overnight in restoring service to customers. As of 9 a.m., about 9,700 customers remained out of service, Duke Energy said in a news release.
The storm’s sustained high winds and heavy rain brought down power lines and damaged infrastructure in multiple regions of the company’s Indiana service area, stretching from north central to the southeast part of the state. More than 25 of the company’s Indiana operation centers were affected, the news release said.
Crews have been making repairs while assessments are still underway to determine the full scope of damage. Duke Energy will provide power restoration time estimates once there is more information from damage assessment, the news release said.
The company is moving some of its crews from its Northern Indiana counties today to its areas in the state more heavily affected to speed power restoration efforts, according to the news release.
In Johnson County, less than 500 customers are still without power as of 2:11 p.m. Saturday, according to the utility’s outage map.
9:20 p.m. Friday: JCREMC restores power to nearly 3K customers
JCREMC has restored 2,700 outages so far, the utility said in a Facebook post just before 9 p.m. Their crews are continuing to work through the evening on the remaining outages, the post said.
JCREMC is currently reporting 46 outages affecting 711 customers, down from nearly 4,000 customers earlier this evening, their outage map shows.
Duke Energy’s outages have grown since earlier this evening, with more than 2,300 customers without power. Most of the outages are in the Franklin and Greenwood areas, their outage map shows.
Times of restoration are not available yet, as crews are conducting repair and damage assessments. A notice on Duke’s website says that as the storm system clears, and as conditions allow, crews will begin assessing damage and making repairs.
An estimated 4,062 customers are without power throughout the county as of 9:20 p.m., according to PowerOutage.us, a national power outage tracker.
7:45 p.m.: Nearly 5K power outages reported
Nearly 5,000 power outages have been reported in Johnson County so far Friday evening.
Approximately 4,855 customers are without power in the county, according to PowerOutage.us, a national power outage tracker.
JCREMC has reported that outages have affected about 3,695 customers. The outages are spread throughout the county, but more than 1,500 customers are without power in White River Township, the utility outage map shows.
Duke Energy has reported more than 1,300 customers without power. The outages are primarily in White River Township, though there are reports of outages in Franklin, Greenwood and Whiteland, according to their outage map.
Details on when power would be restored for some of the customers is not yet available, though utility crews are on route, Duke Energy’s map says. JCREMC’s map doesn’t yet indicate when power would be restored to some customers either as crews are still assessing, it says.
6:26 p.m.: GCA’s football game postponed
Greenwood Christian Academy’s planned Friday night football game at North Central (Farmersburg) has been postponed.
GCA will now play North Central at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Other local postponements — all moved to Saturday — include:
- Franklin at Mooresville: 4 p.m.
- Greenwood at Perry Meridian: 1 p.m.
- Center Grove’s Homecoming game against visiting Lawrence Central: noon
- Edinburgh at Switzerland County: 6 p.m.
- Whiteland at Martinsville: 7 p.m.
4:58 p.m.: How to report power outages
As the strongest winds arrive in the area, here’s some information on how to report power outages.
For Johnson County REMC, outages can be reported four ways:
- Downloading the myJCREMC mobile app
- Visiting jcremc.com/outage-center
- Calling 317-736-6174
- Texting OUT to 1-855-939-3659 (must text from number connected to JCREMC account)
For Duke Energy, outages can be reported four ways:
- Texting OUT to 57801
- Visiting duke-energy.com/outages
- Calling 800-343-3525
- Downloading the Duke Energy app
Both JCREMC and Duke Energy encourage the public to avoid and not touch downed power lines. If a fallen power line or safety hazard is seen, contact local emergency agencies and the respective power company.
3:33 p.m.: Girls Golf Regional postponed
Saturday’s planned Girls Golf Regional at The Legends in Franklin has been postponed to Monday, the Franklin Community Schools Athletic Dept. announced.
More information can be found here.
3:30 p.m.: More Friday night football games postponed
Football games for Franklin and Greenwood have now been postponed because of Tropical Storm Helene’s impacts.
Franklin’s game at Mooresville has been moved to 4 p.m. Saturday, while Greenwood’s game at Perry Meridian has been moved to 1 p.m. Saturday.
They join a list of other local postponements:
- Center Grove’s Homecoming game against visiting Lawrence Central has been moved to noon Saturday. The Homecoming Parade has been outright cancelled, but the Homecoming Dance is still set for 7 p.m. Saturday.
- Edinburgh’s game at Switzerland County has been moved to 6 p.m. Saturday.
- Whiteland’s varsity game at Martinsville has been moved to 7 p.m. Saturday. Ninth-grade will pay at 5:30 p.m. Monday, followed by junior varsity; both at Whiteland.
More information can be found here.
3:12 p.m.: Museum’s Heritage Day moved inside
The Johnson County Museum of History’s Heritage Day is still scheduled for Saturday, museum officials said on Facebook.
But with the weather forecast, all demonstrators will be moved inside to the museum auditorium.
People are encouraged to monitor the museum’s Facebook page for updates.
3:08 p.m.: ‘Final Fridays’ canceled in Greenwood
Restore Old Town Greenwood has canceled their planned “Final Fridays” event for tonight because of the expected high winds.
While it has been canceled, organizers said in a Facebook post that they have ” something exciting up our sleeve” to make up for it.
The next Final Friday will take place on Oct. 25.
2:55 p.m.: Rock Around the Block rescheduled
Rock Around the Block, which was set to take place Saturday during the Franklin Fall Festival, is being rescheduled for Oct. 26 in conjunction with Halloween Town.
More details will be shared soon, the Moyra McCain Memorial Foundation said on Facebook.
2:50 p.m.: Weather postpones Friday night football games
Several local football games planned for Friday night have been postponed because of Tropical Storm Helene’s impacts on Johnson County:
- Center Grove’s Homecoming game against visiting Lawrence Central has been moved to noon Saturday. The Homecoming Parade has been outright cancelled, but the Homecoming Dance is still set for 7 p.m. Saturday.
- Edinburgh’s game at Switzerland County has been moved to 6 p.m. Saturday.
- Whiteland’s varsity game at Martinsville has been moved to 7 p.m. Saturday. Ninth-grade will pay at 5:30 p.m. Monday, followed by junior varsity; both at Whiteland.
2:45 p.m.: US 31 reopens in Greenwood
U.S. 31 southbound has reopened between Apryl Drive and Stop 18 Road in Greenwood.
The southbound lanes had been closed since around 12:21 p.m. due to downed power lines. The roadway was reported as reopened at 2:15 p.m. by the Greenwood Fire Department.
2:40 p.m.: Franklin Fall Festival canceled
A soggy, windy weather forecast has forced the Franklin Parks & Recreation Department to cancel the fall festival for Friday and Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the parks department also canceled Friday’s concert by Corey Cox and Hank Ruff at the DriveHubler.com Amphitheater at Youngs Creek Park.
Read more by clicking here.
