Strong storms whipped quickly across West Michigan Tuesday evening, leaving some residents in the dark.
Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for Ottawa, Kent and Muskegon counties early in the evening, and southwestern counties later.
The rain and strong winds are the remnants of Tropical Storm Cristobal, which is moving north into Wisconsin Tuesday.
Van Buren, Kalamazoo and St. Joseph counties are reporting more widespread outages than counties farther north, according to the Consumers Energy outage map.
Bands of storms continued to hit the region throughout the evening. The National Weather Service expected them to produce gusty winds and "torrential downpours."
By Wednesday morning, more than 30,000 Consumers Energy customers were left without power, most of the outages centered in West Michigan.
Muskegon County officials said its dealing with several trees in the road and damaged power lines. Consumers said there are extra crews working Wednesday morning to address the outages.
Storms are expected to continue throughout the day and heavy rains could lead to flooding Thursday, especially near the lakeshore.
The National Weather Service said the severe thunderstorms Wednesday could produce damaging wind gusts of around 70 mph, large hail up to an inch and even a few tornadoes.
"Make sure you have a way to receive warnings and say weather aware if you are out and about" the NWS tweeted early Wednesday morning.
Storm Safety
Consumers Energy reminds the public to stay at least 25 feet away from a downed wire and anything it is touching. Report downed wires by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Always assume a downed wire, even if not sparking, is energized.
Customers are also reminded, if they lose power, to 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. Portable generators should be operated 25 feet outside of any building, away from windows, doors and vents.
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