July 27, 2021, 4:00 p.m. 

Cohasset, Minn. – Lake Country Power line crews are making progress as they’ve restored service for more than 5,000 cooperative members since Monday’s evening’s severe storms. Nearly 600 members are waiting for service to be restored. 

Those still affected are primarily in the Grand Rapids and surrounding areas where damage is extensive.

Lake Country Power will rotate its line crews for safety reasons. Those who’ve been working since the storm hit early Monday evening, will be replaced by fresh crews from the co-ops other two service centers – Mountain Iron and Kettle River. These crews will carry the baton to continue working through the night. Lake Country Power will continue this strategy until all members are restored. The estimation is by Wednesday evening for the harder-to-access individual service points.  

The co-op is reporting trees on lines, downed power lines and a growing number of broken poles. There are currently 25 broken poles to replace.

The public is urged to stay clear of debris as power lines could be tangled in brush and limbs. Any downed power lines should be considered “live” and left for lineworkers to handle with their specialized safety equipment.

Members may call the cooperative at 1-800-421-9959 for more information, or visit the Outage Center online at www.lakecountrypower.coop or http://mi.lcp.coop:82 for a real-time 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 nearly 43,000 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.