Strong Thunderstorms Packing High Winds, Heavy Rain, Hail and Intense Lightning Interrupt Electric Service to Thousands
Strong Thunderstorms Packing High Winds, Heavy Rain, Hail and Intense Lightning Interrupt Electric Service to Thousands
Jackson, Mich. Sunday, June 02, 2019
Restoration May Extend into Monday for Hardest Hit Areas; Downed Wire Safety Urged
Severe storm systems that rolled in several waves across many parts of Lower Michigan over the weekend have resulted in outages to Consumers Energy customers.
High winds, hail, heavy rain and lightning strikes brought down trees, limbs, power lines and caused equipment damage to parts of Consumers Energy’s electric system. The hardest hit areas from Saturday’s storms are along the I-94 corridor from the western lakeshore through the mid-section of Michigan.
“Consumers Energy crews are out assessing damage, securing downed electric lines to make them safe and restoring power to customers, but because of the extent of damage in some of the hardest hit areas restoration may be extended. We appreciate the patience of our customers as we work around the clock to restore service safely and efficiently,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations.
As of 4:30 a.m. today, 14,000 customers were without electric service. Since the storm activity began, a total of 37,000 customers have been affected. Hardest hit counties include Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Genesee, Kalamazoo, Lake, Mason, and Van Buren counties. While the majority of customers will be restored today, restoration may extend into Monday for areas with the most damage.
Residents are cautioned to be aware of the potential for downed electric lines and to stay at least 25 feet away from the downed wires and report them by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
Consumers Energy also urges the public to keep these important safety tips in mind:
- 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 utility 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.
Consumers Energy customers can sign up to get outage alerts and restoration times sent to a phone, email or text message, Text ‘REG' to 232273 or visit www.ConsumersEnergy.com/alerts.
Customers can also report an outage, check the status of an outage and get useful tips what to do after a storm by visiting www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter.
Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.
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Media Contacts: Doug DeYoung, 231-649-4096, or Debra Dodd, 586-918-0597