Standby crews worked through the night to restore service for nearly 4,900 Lake Country Power members by early this morning, June 1. Rested line crews reported back to work at 7:00 a.m. and are working to repair 195 remaining outages for more than 2,700 members. They will work continuously until 11:00 p.m. tonight and then standby crews will work overnight again.

The work is being challenged by wet grounds and terrible access from fallen trees. Many entry points require walk-in access only to climb poles and make repairs. Four more broken poles were found this morning in the Cohasset area which will require a full day to rebuild this section of line. The Mountain Iron service area found 10 more broken poles to repair.

More than 20 broken poles have been reported in the Cohasset service area from the Memorial Day storm, which exceeds the number of broken poles in all of 2021. 

Because of these challenges, Lake Country Power expects some outages will continue through Thursday.

Crews from Kettle River and Lake States Construction are assisting in the Cohasset service area, which endured the most damages from the holiday storm. Work continues in the northern region of the co-op’s service area, as well. 

The cooperative is working in full force with 51 lineworkers, two tree crews, and 12 – 15 additional personnel contracted from Lake States Construction. Lake Country Power is keeping personnel working 24-hours around the clock.

Lake Country Power reminds everyone to stay away from downed power lines.

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.

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.