Crews are working to restore power after heavy storms over two days knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of Michigan homes and businesses.
Update: Monday, July 22, 6:17 a.m.
Power outages continue Monday morning across the Lower Peninsula.
Consumers Energy is reporting more than 44,000 people without power mostly in West and Northern Michigan.
Katie Carey is the director of media relations for Consumers.
She says power is expected to be restored to most customers by the end of the day Tuesday, but some areas could come back on as late as Wednesday.
“We understand that folks are frustrated and we appreciate their patience,” she says. “We have crews working around the clock to try to get people back up and running as quickly as possible, and more importantly for us as safely as possible.”
DTE Energy is reporting that 250,000 of its customers are still without power. Officials say they expect power to be restored to 80 percent of customers by the end of the day Monday.
Crews continue to arrive from neighboring states to help with the restoration process. Some crews are coming from as far as Georgia and New York.
Original Post: Sunday, July 21 12:36 p.m.
Detroit-based DTE Energy said Sunday that about 400,000 customers were without power because of storms that tore through southeast Michigan on Friday and Saturday. Officials say it's the largest storm to hit the region since March 2017. The utility says it could be as late as Wednesday before power is fully restored.
“We definitely understand their extreme frustration with the delay in their restoration," said DTE spokeswoman Heather Rivard. "We are working as hard as we can to try to prioritize their restoration."
The utility has requested help from 800 line workers in nearby states. The weather downed about 2,000 of its lines.
“We are hopeful that neighboring states such as Ohio, Indiana and even Wisconsin, that are currently holding crews for their own expected weather will have crews become available and will free them up to come assist us,” said Rivard.
Jackson, Michigan-based Consumers Energy said Sunday that over 212,000 customers were affected by the weather. They estimate that roughly 121,000 customers remained without power by Sunday morning. The utility says the storms downed over 2,600 wires.
Consumers Energy estimates it will have all power restored by the end of Tuesday.
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