BRANCH COUNTY, MI (WTVB) – For the fifth time this summer, Consumer’s Energy customers in Branch County have lost power following a storm.
Storms which featured lightning, heavy rain and strong winds gusting up to near 30 miles an hour went through Tuesday evening during the 7:00 p.m. hour.
Nearly an inch of rain was reported between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. at the Michigan State University Extension Service weather station at the Bloom Dairy Farm including .77 of an inch between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m..
Nearly 1,000 Consumer’s Energy customers west of Coldwater and in the Sherwood area lost power as there were numerous reports of downed trees and power lines.
To add insult to injury, some who lost power Tuesday night were without electricity for nearly a week after the devastating August 12 storm.
As of 6:00 a.m., 852 Consumer’s Energy customers in Branch County were without power. Besides the Sherwood area, most of the outages were along the M-86 corridor between Athens and Wheeler Roads including all of Matteson Lake and between Bater and Francisco Roads.
Downed trees from the Tuesday night storms were listed as the reason behind most of the outages.
Consumers Energy is reporting that about 47,000 customers system wide were without power on Wednesday morning. That includes over 3,700 in Calhoun County and over 9,600 in Kalamazoo County. In addition, 841 customers were out in Hillsdale County and 151 were without power in St. Joseph County.
The utility reports crews made progress overnight, restoring power to over 30,000 out of about 80,000 Michigan homes and businesses that were affected by Tuesday storms bringing hail and 60 mph winds. Crews from Ohio and Alabama are in Michigan to boost the effort.
More than 1,100 Consumers Energy coworkers and contractors are involved in the around-the-clock effort to restore power and help customers.
Consumers Energy expects the majority of customers will be restored by Thursday. Customers can check the status of specific outages by visiting www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter, and also 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.
People are urged to stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, keep children or pets away, and report the issue by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy asks the public to keep a safe distance from crews.
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