PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) -Consumers Energy says it is taking its final steps Wednesday evening to restore power to thousands of customers after tornadoes swept through Kalamazoo, Branch and St. Joseph counties Tuesday night, leaving debris and downed wires in their wake.
Multiple Consumers Energy officers visited the most impacted sites in the region today, including Consumers Energy CEO Garrick Rorchow.
According to Chris Laird, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations, “We are working from top to bottom to get the power restored for every customer impacted by these tornadoes as quickly and as safely as possible using traditional bucket trucks, Flex Track vehicles, cranes, helicopters and drones. As residents continue to assess the damage to their homes and businesses, our primary aim is to get the lights back on for them with Consumers Energy crews working around the clock, and we are on target to have the majority of customers restored by the end of the night.”
Consumers Energy has established a Mobile Command Center in Kalamazoo, and more than 175 crews are working around the clock, in 16-hour shifts, to bring power back. To aid in the final push to restore all customers, the company has brought in a flex truck, which can extend further than normal line trucks to clear debris, and two cranes.
Tuesday’s storms initially left more than 30,000 customers without power, more than two thirds of which are now restored.
The damage included portions of Consumers Energy’s natural gas system in the Kalamazoo area, and the company is working with local emergency responders to make repairs and safely restore gas service.
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