About 136,000 Michiganders across the state are still without power Sunday afternoon after this week’s violent storms turned off the lights on nearly 1 million homes statewide.
There are 94,112 customers of DTE Energy without power, according to the company’s outage map as of 4:30 p.m., Aug. 15. There are about 42,000 Consumers Energy customers affected by the outages, according to the company’s outage map.
More than 3,000 DTE Energy crews are attempting to restore power throughout southeast Michigan, while more than 2,000 Consumers Energy workers are doing the same between Lansing and Kalamazoo, according to a Consumers Energy release.
Read more: Most power outages to be restored this weekend, Michigan utilities say
The Jackson-based utility company has restored electric service to more than 85% of the 370,000 affected customers, the release stated. Their goal is to complete all restoration work by the end of the weekend, said Guy Packard, vice president for electric operations.
“We understand how vital electric service is to our customers and are committed to remaining laser-focused on our goal to finish nearly all storm restoration work safely before the weekend is over,” he said in a statement.
Packard added that the company received assistance from out-of-state crews from as far away as New York and Missouri, which was needed to tackle one of “the 10 most significant” storms in company history.
While the goal is still to complete work by the end of Sunday, some additional work could bleed into Monday to clear downed wires, fallen trees and broken poles, the release stated.
More than 600,000 total DTE customers lost power in Thursday’s storm. High winds and tornado-like conditions toppled trees and took down power lines in communities across the state.
As of 6:45 p.m. Saturday, DTE still had 145,000 customers without power. In a little less than 24 hours, it has restored more power for more than 50,000 customers.
The expectation is to restore most outages by the end of Sunday, DTE stated on its social media pages late Saturday.
Both companies continue to provide safety precaution tips to customers. They include:
- Treating non-functioning traffic lights as intersections with four-way stops.
- Staying 20 to 25 feet away from downed wires, and assuming they are live. You can report them to 911, Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050 or DTE online here.
- Watch out for crews working along roads. Slow down when passing them.
- Call 211 for free to find resources and assistance in your community, such as relief, cooling or charging stations.
- Operate generators away from air intakes, such as those in attached garages, basements, enclosed patios or elsewhere in your residence. It can create hazardous levels of carbon monoxide.
In addition to the outage maps, you can track updates for Consumers Energy on their Twitter or Facebook pages. The same links for DTE are here and here.
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