MICHIGAN (WKZO AM/FM) — Many Michigan residents are picking up the pieces after remnants of tropical storm Cristobal moved into the area Tuesday evening.
Heavy winds and strong storms came down on parts of West Michigan, taking down trees, damaging property, and knocking out power as a result.
WOOD-TV was on scene in Allegan County’s village of Hopkins Tuesday night where a tree came crashing down on the village president’s home.
A large tree limb damaged a fence along Oakland Drive in Kalamazoo’s Oakland/Winchell Neighborhood, a tree came toppling down on a home on South Shore Drive in Portage, and other debris can be seen scattered across roads in the Kalamazoo area and throughout Southwest Michigan.
Tens of thousands woke up without power Wednesday morning. As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, over 33,000 Consumers Energy customers were without power in the state. Parts of Kalamazoo County seemed to be the hardest hit with over 13,000 without power at the peak of the outage.
Indiana Michigan Power, which covers part of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana, had restored power to more than two-thirds of the total customers who lost service Tuesday night, but then approximately 3,000 additional customers lost service overnight due to the weather.
Consumers Energy’s Roger Morgenstern says he expects the high winds was the main culprit for the majority of the outages.
He is reminding the public to stay at least 25 feet away from a downed wire and anything it is touching. Residents should report downed wires by calling 911 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
Morgenstern adds that he hopes most of the outages can be restored later Wednesday morning, but that could change due to more storms expected throughout the day on Wednesday.
Restoration times and more storm information can be found at ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter.
In addition, Indiana Michigan Power has released a list of tips to keep people safe during this time:
- Stay away from any downed wires and report them to I&M at 800-311-4634, report on their app or website, or call 911.
- Trees could fall or drop limbs at any moment, please look up.
- Standing water could hide debris or even downed wires.
- Roads will likely be wet, slick and covered with debris.
- Traffic lights may not be functioning. Please use caution and be mindful of first responders and utility workers on the roadways.
- Crews will be following all CDC guidelines on physical distancing. The general public should not to approach the crews.
- Temperatures and humidity levels remain high for this time of the year. Anyone working outside should look for signs of heat stress and take appropriate precautions at the first sign of heat-related fatigue.
