Thousands without power after storms, deluge hits NE Indiana

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Thousands of homes and businesses were in the dark Wednesday in northeastern Indiana after waves of storms damaged trees and power lines while swamping some areas with 9 inches of rainfall.

Crews were working Wednesday to restore power to about 14,500 Indiana Michigan Power customers, most of them in the Fort Wayne area, after winds up to 70 mph swept the area Tuesday night, the utility said. Outages were also reported in southwestern Michigan.

Another round of storms moved through early Wednesday, bringing more rain to the region.

The National Weather Service said the storms primarily affected northwestern Allen County and parts of Whitley County, and most locations in that area reported 3 to 5 inches of rain.

The weather service later said the storms dropped 9.18 inches of rain in Allen County, about eight miles north of Fort Wayne, and several locations got about 8 inches of rainfall, and some saw just under 9 inches.

Flooding was reported in Allen County in Huntertown and Leo-Cedarville, and in Whitley County near Churubusco.

The main parking lot of the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo was swamped with floodwaters, Bonnie Kemp, the zoo's director of communications, told The Journal Gazette.

'œEven with the weather this morning, our attendance appears to be about the same and everything is going well,'ť she said Wednesday.