APPLETON, Wis. — Downed trees and other debris are slowing down restoration of electricity to tens of thousands of people affected by the storm.
We Energies spokeswoman Cathy Schulze says about 53,000 customers were without power at one point Wednesday, mostly in Outagamie County, after three substations were damaged. The number was at about 48,000 Wednesday afternoon. She says it could take several days before power is restored to everyone.
Wisconsin Public Service spokesman Todd Steffen says about 18,000 customers mostly in Brown, Calumet and Manitowoc counties lost power around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, but by the afternoon it was down to about 6,300.
He expects most to be restored by day's end but some may not be restored until Thursday. He says more than 100 damaged poles need to be replaced.
