GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Thousands of West Michiganders are waking up without power Wednesday after a winter system moved through the region Tuesday and overnight.
Between Ottawa, Kent, Newaygo and Muskegon counties, over 20,000 people are without power. This comes as several rounds of heavy, wet snowfall are expected to impact the region this week.
Consumers Energy crews are now working to restore power. Spokesperson Tracy Wimmer said crews were prepared in advance to be able to respond as needed.
"The good news was because we were preparing, we had crews ready, we had equipment ready, we had trucks ready," Wimmer said. "So we were able to deploy them very quickly in the areas that were impacted."
Wimmer said heavy snow weighing on power lines contributed to the outages, as well as downed trees and branches.
She said crews worked last year to cut back on long restoration times by trimming trees and adding technology to decrease the likelihood of outages. She said customers' patience is appreciated.
"We've got our hardworking lineworkers who are out there trying to do the physical labor of putting things back together," she said. "We know people understand how hard that is, and we're just very grateful for their patience."
If you see a Consumers Energy crew working along the road, you're asked to give them plenty of space. To see real-time power outages and estimated restoration times, check the Consumers Energy outage map.
Many school districts in West Michigan have canceled classes as well. To see a list of closings, click here.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and on your phone.