UNION CITY, MI (WTVB)- Utility crews from in and around Branch County have descended on Union City this weekend following Friday’s devastating tornado, working virtually non-stop for over 30 hours to rebuild the local grid.
While restoration within the village limits is nearly complete, crews from Coldwater, Sturgis, Marshall and Hillsdale are currently tackling areas where the infrastructure was leveled. These outside reinforcements have been essential in managing the scale of the destruction, which required the total replacement of poles, wires, and critical equipment.
Significant progress was made over the weekend as the Marshall crew rebuilt a half-mile stretch of line in the 600 block of Tuttle Road, while crews from Sturgis replaced the primary lines behind residential properties near Arbogast. Simultaneously, personnel from Coldwater CBPU and Hillsdale focused their efforts on the Tuttle Park Drive area. Because these sections of the system are being rebuilt from the ground up, officials say that these specific locations required more intensive labor than standard repair work.
The work is now shifting toward the Oak Grove Park area, which sustained some of the most severe damage during the storm.
Crews were sent home Saturday night for some much-needed rest but were back on the job Sunday morning to finalize the reconstruction.
Local authorities anticipate that while most of the town has regained power, the major rebuilding efforts near the park and surrounding rural roads will likely take until early in the coming week to fully complete.
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