1,800 remain without power after derecho hits central Indiana

Update: As of 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, 850 Indianapolis Power & Light customers were without power along with 1,052 Duke Energy customers in Hendricks County. 

Earlier: A wide-spread system of storms known as a derecho is moving across the Midwest Monday night, leaving thousands without power in the Indianapolis area.

The derecho, which Meteorologist Kacie Hoovier said typically last for multiple hours and includes a lot of lightning, rain and wind that can reach speeds of 80-100 mph, reached central Indiana after 7 p.m Monday.

Severe thunderstorm warnings blanketed central Indiana as the storm passed, and the area remains under a severe thunderstorm watch until midnight.

As of 9:07 p.m., Indianapolis Power & Light reports more than 19,000 customers without power in the Indianapolis area. Duke Energy reports more than 2,000 people are currently without power in Hamilton County and more than 2,000 in Hendricks County.

The highest recorded wind gusts in Indiana were 65 mph, but the highest wind of the derecho was recorded in Iowa at 112 mph, Meteorologist Aaron Updike said.

Updike said the storm was more powerful in Iowa because there were higher amounts of wind shear.

The initial severe weather threat is expected to leave Marion County by 9:30 p.m., Updike said, but another round of thunderstorms is expected to follow, which could pose a flood risk.

The NWS issued a flood advisory for parts of central Indiana including Morgan, northwestern Brown, Johnson, southeastern Hendricks and Marion County until 9:45 p.m.

Contact IndyStar Pulliam Fellow Brooke Kemp at bkemp@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @brookemkemp.