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Strong winds downed trees and power lines across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula on Saturday, leaving thousands without power.
About 50,000 Consumers Energy customers are affected by the outage, said Doug DeYoung, a spokesman for Consumers Energy. As of 4 p.m. Dec. 9, more than 37,000 people across Michigan are reporting emergencies, according to the Mapping customer power imbalances.
A wind advisory issued Saturday morning by the National Weather Service warned that winds could reach 50 mph in some parts of the state and that power outages could occur.
Estimated: Wind advisory for much of Michigan, gusts up to 50 mph
Among the communities most affected by the storm was Midland County. Consumers Energy is reporting 6,979 customers – about 16.5% of its customers in Midland County – were without power Saturday afternoon due to multiple power outages throughout the area.
Since Saturday afternoon, crews from the Midland Fire Department have responded to more than 12 reports of downed power lines in the city, said Mark Laux.
Additional incidents of trees and wires downed by the wind have been reported in Midland County, Laux said.
“It’s very widespread in Midland County, and it’s causing a lot of problems on the roads, travel, and people Saturday,” Laux said. “The weather is nice, the wind is coming to damage the trees and the trees have extinguished the power lines and closed the roads”.
The Greater Midland Tennis Center was closed due to a power cut. Play for the Northeast Michigan Tennis Association (NEMTA) district championships has been rescheduled for Sunday, according to Jessica Formsma, League & Tournament Coordinator for the Greater Midland Tennis Center.
Laux said it may take up to two or three days to restore power in some areas due to the large number of outages combined with the lack of available staff over the weekend.
Consumers Energy had about 400 workers in the field helping customers Saturday afternoon, with additional crews set to join the effort in the evening, the agency said. DeYoung.
“We are looking to have all customers restored by the end of Sunday (Dec. 10),” DeYoung said.
A wind advisory for northern Lower Michigan is in effect until 6 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Value Service. Southwesterly winds could reach between 10-20 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.
Customers can check the “estimated restoration time” for specific affected areas on the Consumers Energy map and sign up for text notifications. on the Consumers Energy websiteDeYoung said.
DTE has reported that strong winds are not a major problem as only 910 is without power at this time, and most of them are not caused by the wind, officials said.