GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- About 130 Consumers Energy repair crews are trying to restore electric service to more than 15,000 Lower Peninsula customers who lost power Wednesday due to strong winds.
DTE Energy reported more than 32,000 outages in southeast Michigan.
A wind advisory in West Michigan was set to expire at 4 p.m., but peak wind gusts were still being clocked close to 45 miles per hour as of 3:30 p.m. when this story was published.
Consumers Energy spokesman Josh Paciorek tells WOOD Radio says winds exceeded 50 miles per hour in several locations.
"That's when you can start seeing some trees come down. Especially with the ground being a little bit softer from some of the recent rain. And that can lead to power outages," he said.
Earlier in the day, around 1 p.m., Paciorek said there were about 3,300 outages in Kent County, more than 600 in Ottawa County and about 500 outages in Muskegon County. the Consumers Energy Outage Map showed by late afternoon the number of outages had been reduced significantly:
"We're going to have our crews out working on restoring power as quickly and safely as possible today, but we're going to see these strong winds continue, really, through the evening," Paciorek said. "So, our crews will be out working to get the power back on as quick as possible for customers."
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