MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — Consumers Energy crews are still working to restore power to more than 60,000 people following Tuesday's destructive storms.
A total of 160,000 people lost power across the state Tuesday as severe storms rolled through, bringing wind gusts over 70 mph, heavy rain and hail. This brought down many power lines and caused damage to homes and businesses.
To help address the widespread outages, Consumers Energy has brought in crews from out of state. More than 550 crews are working 16-hour shifts to get the lights back on.
Consumers Energy officials said most customers will have power restored by midday Thursday, but some restoration efforts will continue into Thursday night.
Tracy Wimmer with Consumers Energy said crews have worked hard to get power back to 100,000 customers so quickly. As of 11 a.m., power has been returned to about two-thirds of all customers.
"Now we're getting to a point where those (restoration) numbers might slow, because we're getting to the most complicated restoration projects," she said. "But we, again, are just incredibly grateful to our line workers, to those who came from other states to help us, and just all the work that has gone into making sure that people have the lights back on as quickly and as safely as possible."
To help ease the burden on those without power, Consumers Energy will be giving away free water at Oakridge High School in Muskegon from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Then, they will give out free snow cones at Goodrich Park in Whitehall from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Residents are asked to follow these guidelines to stay safe as cleanup continues:
- 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 to report unguarded downed lines by calling 9-1-1 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.
The Consumers Energy outage map shows real-time information on outages and estimated restoration times. You can check that here.
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