This story has been updated to show the Consumers Energy 9 p.m. Saturday update.
Consumers Energy has been working since Friday night to restore power to thousands of people who lost power following severe storms with strong winds, hail and lightning. In total, 200,000 homes and business lost power since the storms started.
Saturday evening, Consumers Energy said about 137,000 customers were still without power. Crews were out working to fix downed lines during the second wave of storms that hit later in the day.
Additionally 120 employees from out-of-state energy providers are heading to Michigan to aid with the power restoration.
Consumers Energy said the storms brought down more than 1,500 power lines.
The utility said the Saturday afternoon storms could cause additional outages and that restoration will be a "multi-day" effort.
“The safety and comfort of the people we serve is our top priority, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as our crews work to restore power quickly,” said Guy Packard, vice president of electric operations for Consumers Energy. “Our crews will work around the clock until all of our customers again have power.”
The National Weather Service has posted excessive heat warnings over the weekend for part of the United States, with some temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit and higher.
Because of the extreme heat, Consumers Energy is sharing the locations of cooling centers across Michigan and providing resources to help people cope with the outages.
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CONSUMERS ENERGY SAFETY TIPS:
- Call 2-1-1 if you are looking for help connecting to temporary shelter or other resources that offer assistance in your community. 2-1-1 is a free statewide service.
- 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.
- Be alert to crews working along roads. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they safely can go past workers on roadsides.
- 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 which holds the electric service wires to a customer’s 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.
Saturday's storm damage
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