GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After a Grand Rapids man reached out several times for help to the city and Consumers Energy, he is finally seeing cleanup progress in his neighborhood after Tuesday's storms.
Storms ripped down tree limbs, a power pole and power lines on Ashland Avenue in Grand Rapids. Matt Everitt lives in the neighborhood and for two days has been unable to get his car out of his driveway to go to work.
"We've been sleeping here, and I don't know if we should," he said.
13 ON YOUR SIDE first introduced Everitt and his situation during the 5:30 p.m. newscast on Wednesday. He said he called 911 and the fire department came and taped off the area. He also said he called Consumers Energy multiple times.
The 13 ON YOUR SIDE Help Team reached out to the city and Consumers Energy Wednesday about the situation. We received this statement:
"Safety is our top priority at Consumers Energy. We regularly send coworkers to perform guard duty when wires are down, and we encourage people to stay 25 feet away if they see a downed wire. Consumers Energy dispatched a crew this afternoon to a Grand Rapids street in response to a concern that a downed wire was in contact with a house. If anyone has a concern that a wire is unsecured or creates a public risk, please immediately call 9-1-1 and then Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050."
13 ON YOUR SIDE camped out on Ashland Avenue for several hours late Wednesday afternoon into evening to see if any progress would be made. A crew showed up around 5:30 p.m. and got to work.
In his second interview of the day, Everitt said, "it was a little bit of a bummer to know that once WZZM started asking questions, then they came out. You know, we've been trying to get ahold of them for 36 hours now."
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to Consumers Energy again just before 8 p.m. The company said:
"We sent a crew to ensure no downed wires were in contact with a house and ensure the situation is safe. We are working to restore power quickly and safely to all customers affected by this storm. Anyone who has immediate public safety concerns should call 9-1-1, then us."
13 ON YOUR SIDE checked out the scene again around 8:30 p.m. Quite a bit of progress was made at that point including tree limbs chopped up and moved.
"We know that there's a lot of people who need help, but knowing that they're at least here and are aware of the danger, we can sleep a lot easier now," said Everitt.
He added, "Just knowing that the neighborhood's a little bit safer and that people can get back to normal, it's a relief."
As for the next big storm, he said, "Hopefully going forward, things are different."
Just before 1 a.m. on Thursday, Everitt told 13 ON YOUR SIDE his power is back on.
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