Michigan with over 460K without power!
Michigan with over 460K without power!
While ice can be beautiful, it was anything but when it covered everything over the past few days in Michigan. I stepped outside and already began to worry “will I lose power?”. Luckily, I have not (knock on wood). However, many have and DTE is working on restoring their power. Michigan has over 460k without power (but keep reading because there is even more than that!).
By Thursday morning, schools were closed and freezing rain began to knock out power. According to WXYZ.com, DTE stated that 461,376 customers were without power as of 7 am. DTE says that Friday (today February 24th) will be their first full day of restoration.
The weight of the ice is incredible on trees and pulled them down and damaged lines.
You can check their outage map right here. Which has updates on how many customers are out and how many crews are out.
The president of DTE, Trevor Lauer, said the main focus is on public safety and power lines. Between 150,000 and 160,000 have had their power restored since Thursday.
As of 7:30 am, there are over 3000 crews out working to restore power. Over 200,000 crew members are assigned to this task.
The actual number of people without power is greater as Consumer Energy also reports that they have 176,418 without power. So together that takes the number to over 640k without power.
Consumer Energy had this to say:s
“Our crews are working round the clock to get power back to customers as quickly and as safely as possible,” Norm Kapala, a Consumers spokesperson said in a statement.
Mlive.com reports that the hardest hit areas are Kalamazoo, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Van Buren, and Washtenaw counties.
DTE expects to have 95% of the power restored by Sunday, February 25th. While other projections say Monday for others.
