Gov. Rick Snyder surveyed damage Friday caused by the strong winds that hit Michigan Wednesday.
Snyder walked through a Dearborn Heights neighborhood, west of Detroit.
Consumers Energy says it could take crews until Sunday to restore service to all of the hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses statewide that lost power during high winds Wednesday. Consumers is facing a worker shortage.
Thursday, the governor said Consumers and DTE Energy were calling it the largest outage in the state’s history, affecting about a third of Michigan residents when the outage numbers were at their highest.
The strong winds snapped more than 1,100 poles and downed more than 8,000 wires across the state, Consumers said in a release.
Consumers said that their outages peaked around 300,000 on Wednesday. That number was down to about 55,000 customers Friday evening. DTE Energy was also hit hard, with 515,000 customers still without power Friday.
“I can’t emphasize enough that if people come upon a downed wire to call 911 and to give Consumers Energy a call, too,” said Consumers spokesman Roger Morgenstern.
The utility company said in a release that most of its customers should have power by midnight Saturday; however, restoration work in some of the hardest hit areas, including Kent and Kalamazoo counties, will continue into Sunday.
Outage numbers in West Michigan by county as of 10:15 p.m. Friday, according to Consumers Energy’s outage map:
- Allegan: 796
- Barry: 5,968
- Branch: 752
- Calhoun: 3,389
- Ionia: 3,631
- Kalamazoo: 1,546
- Kent: 2,973
- Montcalm: 1,169
- Ottawa: 304
- Van Buren: 459
Morgenstern, the Consumers spokesman, said the company set up a mobile command center in Rockford, which is one of the hardest hit areas in Kent County. The hub contains computers and high-powered radios to allow the company to communicate with its crews and emergency management workers in nearby counties.
Consumers Energy says more than 2,000 people are working to restore power to the area, along with an additional 181 crews from Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Morgenstern urges that anyone using a generator as temperatures get colder to make sure it’s properly installed and vented outside.
“Even in an open garage you can have carbon monoxide go into the house and that is odorless, colorless and deadly,” Morgenstern said.
The high winds knocked over trees and power lines onto roads all across West Michigan, causing slow downs. If traffic lights are out, drivers should treat it as a four-way stop.
Dozens of churches, businesses and schools reported delays and closings Wednesday. Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo was experiencing power outages and had to be powered by generators. Due to the intermittent power outages, elective surgeries were cancelled Wednesday.
The American Red Cross of West Michigan is opening a shelter at the Ionia Armory Community Center on Main Street to serve people who have lost power. The shelter will open at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Red Cross also opened a warming center at Pennfield High School near Battle Creek at 9 a.m. Friday.