Severe storms struck the Region Thursday afternoon, knocking out power to more than 21-thousand NIPSCO customers concentrated in Lake County.  Crews have been working through the night to restore power and those numbers were down to 47-hundred as of 4:30 this morning.

Those storms reportedly ripped part of a roof from a building at the Hickory Ridge Lake Apartments complex in Merrillville, on west 55^th Avenue. There were no injuries being reported. Nwi-dot-com says part of the roof landed on parked vehicles near 57^th and Hayes.

Strong storms blew over a semi on northbound Interstate 65 just south of the 61st Avenue (Merrillville/Hobart) exit about 4:15 Thursday afternoon.  Indiana State Police say a preliminary investigation revealed that the semi pulling an empty box trailer was stopped/slowed in the middle lane of northbound I-65 because of the torrential rain the area was receiving at the time. Traffic had slowed/stopped because of the low visibility when a strong wind blew the semi and its trailer onto its right side into the right lane. Troopers say the wind then pushed the semi and trailer into the far right exit lane for 61st Avenue where it struck a van. Police report very minor damage to the van.

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Read more: http://www.indiana105.com/news/region-news/28505-strong-storms-hit-lake-county.html