COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The restoration of power for Consumers Energy customers in Branch County is taking longer than expected.
After earlier saying most of the power would be restored by the middle of the afternoon Friday, Consumers Energy is now saying restoration for just about all of their customers won’t place until 11:30 p.m. Friday night.
Nearly 1,700 Consumers customers in Branch County were still without power Friday afternoon after a line of severe thunderstorms went through Branch and Hillsdale Counties early Thursday morning.
The restoration efforts have apparently been complicated by a number of power lines that have gotten tangled up with downed trees.
Utility officials are again warning residents not to touch any downed power lines.
Over 2,800 customers system wide were still without power over 30 hours after the storms went through.
Emergency officials were extremely busy across Branch County when the storms hit and in the hours afterwards.
According to the Branch County 911 log, there were 174 storm-related calls between 5:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
