GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When Tuesday morning's storm swept through West Michigan, homeowners on less busy streets like Ashland Ave NE in Grand Rapids felt that difficulties in reporting urgent damage had left them figuratively, and literally, in the dark.
"We're literally trapped here," says Matt Everitt, a renter currently living within the cautioned-off area of Ashland Ave NE where a power pole has been struck by a tree that fell during the storm, suspending the live power pole above his home.
"It's a fire waiting to happen," he says looking on at the scene.
"That line is very much live. So what happens when it falls and sparks? We've been sleeping here, and I don't know if we should. This feels legitimately dangerous."
Everitt was woken up by his wife in the middle of the night who heard the crash of the tree into the power line and subsequent sparking. After the storm subsided, the two called 911 to report the damage and begin what they envisioned was the reparations process.
"When we called 911 the [Grand Rapids] Fire Department came and they taped everything up pretty extensively around here, and then left." Everitt recounts.
"We assumed that would be it, they'd put it in their system, and that it would get added to a [report] log."
But according to the report from the responding firefighters, it was only a "downed power line."
Everitt says he tried to alert Consumers to the situation as the Fire Department left the neighborhood, staying home as both he and his wife's cars are inches away from live wire laying in their driveway.
"We called Consumers multiple times [and] couldn't get to a person," he said.
"But [on] their phone menu they'll ask, 'Is the wire live? Yes. Is it down on the ground, yes. Is it touching anything? Yes.' And that was all on a computerized menu, and we answered accordingly escalating it each time," Everitt explained.
But Everitt didn't speak to a representative from Consumer's Energy in their attempts to reach out, and hesitates to believe they know their actual situation.
"Do they know that this [pole] is here? Or do they think we need power?" Everitt says.
"That's going to have to be a whole new pole, do they know they have to get a whole new pole?' he continues.
That still doesn't ease Everitt's concerns.
"There's no way to let someone know, 'this could go much worse, very quickly,'" Everitt said.
As Everitt awaits a dedicated response from Consumer's Energy, he and his family are not only without power but without direction.
"We've been living notice by notice from consumers saying tomorrow, tomorrow, and that's useless at this point," he said.
"I know there are people in much worse scenarios. And that's the thing, I don't want to overload the phone lines or add more work to people's plates," Everitt explains.
"But I feel like if they understood how severe the situation is, they would have responded, or at least acknowledged something."
Before 13 ON YOUR SIDE'S story aired, Consumer's Energy responded with the statement below:
"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."