200K without power in Michigan, some schools close after powerful storms
UPDATE: Michigan Indiana Power Co. reports 28,000 customers in Southwest Michigan without power, including 15,109 in Berrien County; 9,183 in Van Buren County and 2,398 in Cass County.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Over 200,000 utility customers in Michigan are without power Friday, May 16, after overnight storms brought reports of possible tornados and winds over 70 mph.
Consumers Energy reported 187,000 outages. DTE Energy reported 9,400, primarily on the east side of the state and Midwest Energy & Communications reported 6,900, primarily in Southwest Michigan.
Kalamazoo County has the most outages, with 50,142, according to Consumers’ outage map.
Other counties with significant outages include Calhoun (21,355); Muskegon (20,041); Allegan (11,968); Ottawa (12,997); Ingham (9,535); Barry (8,666); Eaton (8,143); Kent (6,748); Van Buren (5,282); Saginaw (5,227); Genesee (4,799); and St. Joseph (3,127).
RELATED: Tornado or ‘gustnado’? Flipped semis, downed trees as severe storms pound Michigan
Thousands of students are out of school with many districts closed because of power outages.
More than 160,000 homes, businesses without power in Michigan after powerful storms
Schools are closed in multiple counties, including Kent, Kalamazoo, Ottawa, Muskegon, Van Buren, Allegan, Calhoun, Montcalm and Ionia counties.
School districts that are closed include Hudsonville, West Ottawa, Kalamazoo, Caledonia, Mona Shores, Godfrey-Lee, Bloomingdale, Gull Lake, Hartford, Holton, Martin, Oakridge, Parchment, Paw Paw, Saranac, Saugatuck, and Vestaburg. See the full list on WZZM-13.
RELATED: See Kalamazoo-area school closings for Friday, May 16, after storms hit
“Havoc effectively wrecked across West Michigan with reports of scattered damage and power outages ...,” the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids said on Facebook just before midnight.
Consumers said 500 crews are working to restore power after powerful winds knocked down trees and power lines.
“We recognize that many communities will be waking up to the impact of this tremendous storm system, and our commitment is to help them recover,” said Chris Wisniewski, one of Consumers Energy’s officers in charge for the storm.
“That means we will be putting every available resource to work today, ensuring we safely and quickly restore power to customers who count on us.”
Lou Hunt, director of Ottawa County Emergency Management, said warning sirens sounded late Thursday for two radar-indicated tornados, with trees and power lines down, blocked roads and small fires reported in the county.
The storms brought tornado sightings, hail and other damage. High winds, up to 28 mph, are expected on Friday.
Thunderstorms are expected between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., with scattered areas of high winds and heavy rain.
“The storms will not be as intense or widespread as Thursday evening,” the weather service said.
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