COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) -Nearly 2,800 Consumers Energy customers in Branch County are still without power after a line of severe thunderstorms went through Branch and Hillsdale Counties early Thursday morning.
According to the utility’s outage page, most of their Branch County customers won’t get their power back until 11:30 p.m. Friday night.
Over 5,100 customers system wide were still without power almost 24 hours after the storms went through. That number included 668 in Hillsdale County, 40 in Calhoun County and 534 in St. Joseph County.
Thousands lost their power and morning commuters had to deal with roads that were blocked by fallen trees and wires. The loss of power and blocked roads led to the canceling of classes in the Coldwater and Quincy schools districts which left school officials scrambling to reschedule some end of the year testing and activities.
The storms moved into Branch County just after 5:00 a.m.. The Branch County Memorial Airport recorded a 41 mile per hour wind gust at 5:30 a.m.. At the height of the power outages, nearly 15,000 Consumers Energy customers lost power which included nearly 3,800 in Branch County and over 3,300 in Hillsdale County.
The City of Coldwater reported the extensive storm damage caused power outages in many parts of town. At one point, nearly 1,800 Consumers Energy customers in Coldwater lost power.
Crews from the City of Marshall helped Coldwater Board of Public Utilities crews get the power back on.
Bronson Police reported trees and power lines were knocked down in the city and that the Department of Public Works had to work diligently to get the streets opened back up.
Quincy firefighters answered twelve calls for service over a five hour period. Village residents were also told to stay away from the park and playground until after the storm damage was cleaned up.
