GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The morning after severe storms passed through West Michigan, hundreds of crews with Consumers Energy are working around-the-clock to restore power.
The storms hit Tuesday afternoon, battering communities across the state with strong winds and heavy rainfall. The storms downed trees and power lines—leaving over 170,000 customers without power. Most of those outages were in Kent, Ionia, Montcalm, Gladwin, Midland, Bay and Clare counties.
Consumers Energy now has over 360 crews working to get the lights back on. Officials say about a quarter of customers have had their power restored as of Wednesday morning.
“We appreciate people’s patience as Tuesday’s storms caused devastation on one of this summer’s hottest days. Our focus now is to get the lights back on while making sure we’re providing comfort and relief to our friends and neighbors,” said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy’s Officers in Charge for restoration. “Meanwhile, lineworkers made progress overnight in restoring power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Their work won’t stop today.”
To help ease the burden, Consumers Energy will be providing free water and ice to residents impacted by the outages. Staff members will be at the Courtland Township Hall in Rockford and at the Larkin Township Hall in Midland at 1 p.m.
Storm photos in Michigan 8/27
Consumers Energy said more lineworkers are being brought on to help.
You're asked to keep these safety tips in mind:
- Be alert to crews working along roadsides. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they can go safely past.
- Stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, and report unguarded downed lines by calling 911 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy reminds people that falsely calling in downed lines actually slows down the restoration process for everyone.
- Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement, enclosed patio or near any air intakes. Doing so could cause a generator to produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. Read more guidance on safe generator use here.
- Consumers Energy will trim or remove trees interfering with electric restoration activities. Once safe to do so, clean-up of debris from tree trimming or removal during a storm emergency is the responsibility of individual property owners.
- In some cases, the mast that holds the electric service wires to a home or business may have been damaged or torn away. Crews will reconnect the wires to a home, but only a licensed electrician can repair or replace a mast or a cable.
You can see live updates on the power outages at Consumers Energy's outage map. The map also provides estimated restoration times.