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SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN — Power companies are still working diligently to restore power to thousands of homes across southwest Michigan after a severe line of storms battered the area Sunday.

A team of 2,700 Indiana Michigan Power employees, mutual assistance personnel and contractors are focused on safely restoring powering to remaining customers. All outages have been assigned a crew to restore service.

As of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, service has been restored to more than 70 percent of the 60,000 customers that lost power, with approximately 8,900 customers in Indiana and approximately 8,500 customers in Michigan remain to be restored. Most of those customers are in St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties in Indiana and St. Joseph and Cass Counties in Michigan.

I&M anticipates having the majority of customers who can receive power restored by 11 p.m. Tuesday. Many customers will receive service before the estimated time. Customers can enroll in mobile alerts for personalized restoration information. Readers can sign up on I&M’s mobile app or at IndianaMichiganPower.com/Alerts.

I&M urges the public to remain a safe distance away from crews restoring power. Its teams are working near dangerous equipment, often in clearly marked safe areas. If driving, please do not remove barricades and be sure to give more than enough room to keep crews safe.

Restoration crews are focusing on large customer outages, including restoring 4,000 customers in the Niles, Michigan area. In South Bend, Indiana crews are replacing a large, structured pole that was broken to restore more than 1,200 customers. Repairing equipment for large electrical lines will help I&M restore power to smaller customer outages.

I&M crews continue to find additional damage, especially in hard-hit areas of St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties in Indiana and St. Joseph and Cass Counties in Michigan. In Indiana, crews discovered 375 individual spans of downed power lines, 127 broken or damaged poles and 18 damaged transformers. In Michigan, crews report finding 311 individual spans of downed power lines, 147 broken or damaged poles and 27 damaged transformers.

Crews are working alongside roadways, in alleys and sometimes in hard-to-reach locations requiring special equipment. Be aware of I&M crews in your area and do not approach for your safety and theirs.

Amid restoration work, I&M’s storm response team is monitoring the risk for severe weather Wednesday across our service area. I&M is prepared to restore power if additional outages occur.

As customers beginning cleanup are asked to be cautious. Downed trees, broken utility poles and downed lines along with anything they may touch, are to be treated as dangerous. Call local police to report any hazards or call I&M immediately at 1(800) 311-4634.