In Indiana, Mother Nature holds no punches. Regardless of season, she usually has surprises lurking around every corner.

As we write this in July, she seems to favor high heat and humidity, with what seems like an unending amount of rain and thunderstorms, but by the time this is published in August, it could be dry as a bone out there.

In our 85 years as your community cooperative, we’ve had our fair share of storms and damage to contend with, and every time, our employees are there to make sure your electricity gets back on as soon, and safely, as possible.

Tornados can’t stop us. Whether it’s like the one in 1974 which caused $27,000 worth of destruction, or makes a larger impact, like the one in October 2002 that saw two touch downs — one in Cromwell in Noble County and another in Fairfield Township in DeKalb County — and destroyed $100,000 of our equipment, we’ll be there.

Ice storms also bring another challenge. From freezing temperatures to galloping lines, we’ve sustained our fair share of damage. In 1959, we were dealing with almost $15,000 in damage in a January ice storm, while in the winter of 2002 (what was going on in 2002?!), more than $100,000 was spent repairing damage due to an ice storm.

Regardless of the weather, our linemen and ground crew are out there, making sure you’re safe and comfortable inside your homes and businesses, and our office employees are stationed at headquarters to communicate what’s happening when you have questions.

We can do this because we’re here, right in the community, living and working right beside you, our friends, families and neighbors.

Noble REMC has been here for 85 years, and we plan to be here for at least 85 more.