LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – As there are still customers across the state in the dark after the storms from last week, some of Michigan’s largest power suppliers are still trying to bring power back to more than 20,000.
“Our crews worked tirelessly overnight to make significant progress restoring power and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work to clean up the mess made by high winds and three confirmed tornadoes,” Scott McIntosh, one of Consumers Energy’s officers in charge for the storm, said in a statement early Monday. “Restoring power is our No. 1 job and our line workers will continue putting in 16-hour shifts, around the clock until every last community is restored.”
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Consumers Energy reported as of Monday morning that a majority of those without power had it restored.
“We’ve restored nearly 83 % of the nearly 200,000 homes & businesses that had power knocked out because of Thursday’s storms from Grand Rapids to Southeast Michigan,” the company said on social media. “Some communities saw more severe damage, especially those in areas that had 7 confirmed tornadoes. Those hardest hit areas should see their power returned by the end of the day today. We thank customers for their patience as we work through restoration for all our communities.
DTE Energy is also still working to bring their customers back online, reporting that as of early Monday morning, roughly 19,000 customers were without power.
As part of the effort of assessing damages and prioritizing where to help first, DTE opted to deploy some aerial vehicles after the storm.
“To more efficiently assess damage and expedite repairs, we deployed helicopters to identify the level of storm damage and crew support necessary to make repairs after extreme weather brought winds over 70 MPH and tornados to our area,” the company said on social media.
In the wake of the storms, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a state of emergency for Wayne and Monroe counties as crews worked to help those affected by the storms.
“Activating the State Emergency Operations Center ensures we can support communities in Southeast Michigan as they respond to the impacts of flooding,” said Governor Whitmer. “We will get first responders and emergency crews on the ground the resources they need to keep people safe. Safety is our top priority, and we will get through this together.”
At least six tornadoes touched down in Michigan on Thursday night as severe storms and strong winds killed five people, downed trees, damaged property, and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power.
To view the status of loss of energy in the state, visit DTE’s Outage Status Monitor, or Consumers Energy’s here.
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