PESHTIGO, Wis. — Many across northeastern Wisconsin are still reeling from Tuesday’s snowstorm. Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) said it expects 97% of its customers to have power restored by Friday night.

As of Friday afternoon, 13,000 customers were still in the dark.

Most of the remaining outages are in the Green Bay area, Marinette County and Door County. WPS spokesperson Matt Cullen said it is increasing efforts in those areas to restore power.

What You Need To Know

  • WPS spokesperson Matt Cullen said Green Bay, Marinette County and Door County were hit hardest by Tuesday's storm

  • Some Peshtigo residents may not have power restored until next week

  • WPS is bringing in additional field crews and workers to aid in restoration efforts

  • Peshtigo Food Pantry held food drive to help families without power

"We have additional field crews and workers that are being brought on today still to aid in those efforts. We have more than 400 crews that would be out in the field Friday, making repairs and restoring power to everyone who's been impacted," Cullen said

Marinette County was one of the counties hit particularly hard by Tuesday’s snowstorm, leaving many in need.

Cathy Miles, Peshtigo's food pantry manager said many in her town are still without power and food.

"The last I had heard is that there are some [areas] that they aren't even going to start until Saturday. So that puts them four or five days without electricity," Miles said. 

Miles said while she can’t restore the power, she can help make sure families have something to eat. The Peshtigo Food Pantry is holding a food drive for those impacted.

"The community decided that they would go out and collect things that were nonperishable, but somebody brought in apples and oranges and bananas, granola bars, things that could last for several days without electricity," Miles said.

Phyllis Lorenz is volunteering her time to help on Friday, but she’s also impacted herself. Lorenz has been without power since Tuesday. She said downed trees are making it difficult for work crews to approach her home.

"A lot of branches down in the backyard. We can see when we weren't right down our road that there were tree branches and limbs on the power lines. And they haven't come yet to look at them to fix them yet," Lorenz said.

She said thanks to the food drive she and others won’t go hungry. 

Nearby towns and businesses in Marinette County are also opening their doors to those who need help.

Miles said comforting others in difficult times is what she does best and is happy to help out.

"It's another way to serve my community. Helping less fortunate people and people in times of need like this with a long-term power outage," Miles said.

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