UPDATE: Winter storm leaves power outages, messy roads throughout county, region

COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The freezing rain and sleet storm that struck Branch County yesterday left hundreds without electricity and contributed to at least two dozen traffic accidents while gusty winds that picked up in their punch in the afternoon brought down trees and limbs all over the county. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported by area law enforcement agencies. Consumers Energy said over 2,000 customers in Branch County lost power Monday with many of the outages continuing today. Full restoration is not expected until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Branch County 9-1-1 was notified of 14 traffic accidents yesterday in addition to ten vehicles that ended up in a ditch or were listed as slide offs. Central dispatch also listed 44 locations where there were hazards because of trees or limbs in the roadway. All of the weather advisories for Branch County that were issued Monday have been lifted with mostly cloudy conditions forecast for the balance of the week and turning colder.