COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A massive wind storm knocked out power for thousands of Michigan residents Sunday.
The Branch County Memorial Airport recorded a peak wind gust of 49 miles an hour with sustained winds between 30 and 39 miles an hour.
Reports of downed trees and wires started to come in just before sunrise and continued throughout the day.
As of 5:00 a.m. Monday morning, there were 277 Consumers Energy customers in Branfh County without power. The main outages were northwest of Sherwood where power is expected to be restored by 6:00 p.m. Monday evening.
Other outages have been reported near Block and West Central Roads as well as near Jonesville and Clarendon Roads.
There were 436 Consumers Energy customers without power in Calhoun County, 363 were out in Hillsdale County and 61 outages were reported in Saint Joseph County. Over 49,000 customers were without power system wide.
Consumers Energy crews are continuing to make repairs and get power turned back on for customers. The utility’s vice president of electrical operations Guy Packard says the winds peaked in intensity and speed in the evening, which is helping the restoration effort.
Packard thanked customers who’ve been dealing with power outages several times in the past few weeks.
DTE Energy says around 40,000 of its customers in southeast Michigan are without power. The utility says around 500 power lines and poles were taken down in metro Detroit by the winds, and service is expected to be restored to 95-percent of customers by the end of the day today. Crews are working 16-hour shifts to make the necessary repairs.
