The storms last night caused a lot of problems throughout the Northland last night, including knocking out power right here at the radio station.  While most have returned to life as usual, those who have not will hopefully get there soon.

Lake Country Power line crews continue to make progress as they work to restore electric service following last night's severe thunderstorms. Crews have restored service to nearly 8,000 members since early morning. They've also experienced a few setbacks today as additional outages have cropped up from fallen trees.

Nearly 8,000 Lake Country Power members remain without power. The outage locations are widespread throughout Lake Country Power's service area.

At the height of the storm, more than 15,500 members lost service after strong thunderstorms blew through the cooperative's 11,000 square mile service area. Heavy winds, some of which were straight line winds, knocked trees and limbs onto power lines. Crews are replacing broken poles, repairing broken lines and removing downed trees from roadways.

Lake Country Power line crews have been working steady since after midnight. Additional crews from Lake States Tree Service and Lake States Construction have been assisting.

With consideration and respect for crew safety and public safety, all line crews will be sent home on sleep time by 10:00 p.m. tonight. They will resume outage restoration work at approximately 6:00 a.m. and will continue working to restore service for those who will be affected until tomorrow. Until the crews leave for much needed rest, they'll remain working to restore as many outages this evening as possible.

Members may call the cooperative at 1-800-421-9959 for more information, or visit the Outage Center online at www.lakecountrypower.coop 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 Grand Rapids, Kettle River and Mountain Iron.

More From B105