A reader shared this photo of a power line pole resting against a store Friday in the 1600 block of North State Street in Greenfield.
As the outer remnants of Hurricane Helene’s heavy rains reached up into Central Indiana, many Hancock County residents encountered power outages, falling tree limbs and downed power lines Friday.
The soaking came 10 days after dry conditions had prompted county commissioners to issue a countywide burn ban. The accompanying winds buffeted power lines; utility companies serving different areas of the county sent crews out to restore power.
”As the wind intensifies, we have received an influx of outage calls across our territory,” NineStar Connect posted on its Facebook page around 7 p.m. Friday. “Please exercise caution and avoid contact with downed power lines.”
Residents in multiple Greenfield neighborhoods suffered outages Friday evening. The affected areas included homes and businesses downtown, near Hancock County Courthouse. Some restaurants closed early for the evening due to lacking power. Some residents were without power for as much as three hours or more.
Later in the evening, Greenfield Police Department posted a video, noting the storm had snapped several power poles in a shopping center in the 1600 block of North State Street (State Road 9).
“All the traffic lights along State Road 9, starting at McKenzie (Road) and south down through the south end of town, are all dark,” Deputy Chief Chuck McMichael said in the video. “What we want you to do is treat every intersection that is a lighted intersection normally as a four-way stop.”
There were also outages farther out from the heart of the city: to the south, including Chapman Estates on South State Street and Bowman Acres on Davis Road; to the west, including the area around Greenfield-Central High School and the Copeland Farms neighborhood near New Road and Broadway; and to the east, including the Indigo Springs neighborhood near Blue and McKenzie roads, where power was out from about 7-10:30 p.m.
North of the city, outages included the community of Maxwell, neighborhoods such as Cranberry Lake Estates and Twin Lakes, and the Sugar Hills neighborhood near CR 500 North and Fortville Pike. Some Green Township residents also suffered outages.
In New Palestine, power was out but back on shortly in some neighborhoods. Still, strong gusts and heavy rains prompted postponement of New Palestine High School’s homecoming football game against Greenfield-Central to 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Eastern Hancock High School’s football team played its homecoming game against Milan on Friday after a delay. Mt. Vernon High School’s football team was on the road at Pendleton Heights’ homecoming Friday, and that game was also played.
In Fortville, some residents reported outages that were later restored. Some others there did not lose power.
Reports were mixed from Brandywine and Blue River townships, with some still having power but others reporting outages.
To the west, power was out in parts of Cumberland, including the Glen Oaks neighborhood.
