At approximately 6:00 p.m. Jan. 3, 2018, residents in the City of Kenosha began to experience a loss of electrical power in their homes. This number reached 19,000 by approximately 7:00 pm.
A partial activation of Emergency Operations Center (EOC) began at 6:30 pm in an attempt to prepare for potential long-term power outages. Warming centers were established at both Tremper and Indian Trail High Schools where a total of nine people utilized these facilities.
County EOC officials contacted the Red Cross, which began preparations to deploy to the Kenosha area to assist with shelter. Power started to return for some area residents but it was sporadic. The Kenosha Police Department contacted Kenosha City Transit to assist getting affected persons to shelter if needed free of charge. The Salvation Army also opened up their facility as a warming center.
We Energies diagnosed the problem and was diligent in fixing a transmission line malfunction.
By approximately 10:35 p.m., about 3,176 people were still without power. Just before midnight this number was down to 22. All power was restored by 11:30 p.m. according to a WE Energies spokesperson.
All of this was made possible by the coordinated efforts of Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and Kenosha County Emergency Management Director Lt. Horace Staples. The Kenosha Police Department and the Red Cross were also key in their response to assist the citizens of Kenosha.