Most of Marshall County will have power restored by the end of the day on Tuesday.

Cindy Tomlinson, manager of external communications for Alliant, said they are optimistic it might even be before.

“We fully anticipate the majority of residents will have their power soon,” she said.

Tomlinson wanted to remind everyone that just because power is restored, does not mean the lights are on in houses. If there is any damage to the house connection, the home owners need to get them fixed.

Part of the reason she was hesitant to provide an estimated time of restoration was because Alliant was working as quickly as possible was focusing on on restoring service. Tomlinson said the company wanted to be able to deliver.

The effort put forward has been great, with Alliant tripling its workforce since the derecho. More workers will arrive on Saturday. The ones who are arriving later were helping restore power to people hit by Hurricane Isaias on the east coast.

Tomlinson said Monday’s derecho knocked down 2,500 poles in the area.

“From a big picture standpoint, normally that amount takes eight months to replace, and we will have it done in a week,” she said.

Doing a lot of work in a short amount of time is not the only thing Alliant is doing.

The company is also hosting an Emergency Food Box at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Alliant has partnered with the Salvation Army to provide the assistance, which will be available at 109 S. Third St.

There will be a distribution of 500 deli sandwiches, fruit and water for as long as supplies last.

Contact Lana Bradstream at lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.