Heat and humidity broiled parts of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and other midwestern states Wednesday while storms accompanied by heavy rain bowled over trees and flooded roads. Thousands of homes and businesses in western and northern parts of Michigan's Lower Peninsula remained without power following damage to power lines.
Wind gusts reached about 70 mph in some areas, including the Dorr area south of Grand Rapids, toppling trees, limbs and power lines. Winds of between 30 and 50 mph were reported across a larger area. The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories for the Chicago area, much of Indiana and the Detroit area where heat indices are expected to get up to 100 degrees. In the Detroit area, heat indices are expected to be in the 90s.
Hot and humid conditions will exist again today. Afternoon heat indices well into the 90s. The environment will again bring the chance for showers and thunderstorms. Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible, greatest potential late this evening and overnight. #miwx pic.twitter.com/pwtd1G9Wz0— NWS Detroit (@NWSDetroit) August 12, 2021
Powerful storms yesterday afternoon and overnight that followed damaging winds earlier this week have left massive and widespread power outages across the Lower Peninsula. Severe thunderstorm warnings are still being listed throughout the area today, as well as flash flood warnings in Livingston County and parts of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb counties.
8/12/2021 6:35 AM: Another round of severe weather will be moving through the Jackson area this morning. A severe weather warning is in effect along with a Flood warning due to ongoing flooding and another round of heavy downpours. Turn around Don't Drown. pic.twitter.com/tq9cpkqaew— NWS Grand Rapids (@NWSGrandRapids) August 12, 2021
Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Ann Arbor MI, Ypsilanti MI, Saline MI until 7:30 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/qkhIneRhCW— NWS Detroit (@NWSDetroit) August 12, 2021
In Southeast Michigan and the Thumb, DTE Energy is reporting more than 504,000 customers without power. DTE is encouraging customers to report outages or downed powerlines at outage.dteenergy.com/ or through the DTE app. The company is experiencing technical issues via its phone carrier, so is encouraging customers not to call.
In West Michigan and Northern Lower Michigan, Consumers Energy says 213,000 of its customers do not have electricity. Consumers Energy tweeted earlier Thursday morning that they were receiving help from crews from seven different states and hoped to have power restored to many of their customers today.
Bolstered by crews from seven states, we expect to make progress Thursday in restoring power to over 300,000 Michigan homes and businesses that have been affected by two days of intense storms across the state. pic.twitter.com/ojxglQ2Zx2— Consumers Energy (@ConsumersEnergy) August 12, 2021
This is a developing story.
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