Crews chip away at power outages after storm

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Tens of thousands of Consumers Energy customers, including many in Muskegon County, remained without power a day after a line of strong storms moved through West Michigan.

Consumers Energy says it has some 550 crews, including contractor crews from five states, working around the clock to restore power to affected customers.

“It’s all hands on deck,” Consumers Energy Vice President of Customer Experience Lauren Snyder said. “It’s not just our crews, but it’s also my coworkers in the office who are making sure we’re getting to the right places, identifying where the damage is, getting to work so that we can restore power quickly.”

Some 160,000 customers statewide lost power as a result of the storms, according to the Jackson-based utility. By Wednesday afternoon, outages had been narrowed to fewer than 40,000 customers. The utility company said most customers can expect to have power back by Thursday afternoon. However, customers in the hardest-hit areas may not have power restored until Thursday night.

Wednesday afternoon, most of the remaining outages were in Muskegon County. The following West Michigan counties had 100 or more customers without power as of 11:50 p.m. Wednesday:

• Barry County: 102 customers
• Kent County: 1,504 customers
• Muskegon County: 13,658 customers
• Newaygo County: 100 customers
• Oceana County: 569 customers
• Ottawa County: 2,356 customers

In one Grand Rapids neighborhood near Riverside Park, strong winds toppled trees and knocked out power.

“This beautiful hard maple dropped a limb on our wire and ripped the mast off the house,” Eric Ruiter, who lives in the area, showed News 8.

“There was back feed in the lines and partial power was being restored in some of the homes, which was causing our home, because the power lines were on the roof, to smoke and smolder so as soon as the fire department got out, Consumers was right afterwards,” Ruiter continued.

Firefighters doused the smoking before the fire spread. Electricians replaced the mast so Consumers could run a new line.

“Everything’s speeding along as our insurance claim right to the contractors. They’re out working now,” Ruiter said. “I think having a little empathy towards what Consumers power and everybody else is going through means a lot, so they’re doing a great job.”

Ultimately, homes on Sligh Boulevard near Monroe Avenue NE got their service back.

Consumers reminded customers to stay away from downed wires and call 911 immediately, then the utility.

If you’re using a generator, you’re reminded to keep the generator a safe distance away from your home and any doors and windows. Don’t run it inside your home or your garage, firefighters say.

Consumers provided free water, snow cones and hot dog meals Wednesday to some of the hardest-hit regions. The utility distributed water in Muskegon from noon to 2 p.m. at Oakridge High School, located at 251 S Wolf Lake Rd .; snow cones in Whitehall from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Goodrich Park, located at 100 Lake St .; and hot dog meals and ice cream bars in Grand Rapids from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Messiah Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, located at 513 Henry Ave. SE.

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