By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
Clare Emergency Management Director Jerry Becker posted on Facebook Wednesday morning that 10,436 Customers were still without power in Clare County, according to Consumers Energy. His post said, “Crews are out working to clear roads and restore power service. Stay away from downed lines and contact either Consumers Energy/1-800-477-5050 www.consumersenergy.com or 911 for any new discovery of lines down.”
Widespread heavy damage with trees toppled and lines down were reported all over the mid-Michigan Area, caused by two sudden, heavy thunderstorms on Tuesday with winds of 40 miles per hour and gusts up to 60 mph followed by a third and more storms throughout the night.
DTE urged caution saying, “Assume any downed power line is live. Stay 25 feet away.”
Temperatures in the low 90s before the storms passed through the area, dropped by twenty degrees into the 70s. following the storms. The cooler temperatures continued overnight and on Wednesday, but climbed back to the low to mid-80s Wednesday afternoon.
Some schools cancelled classes due to the extreme heat and later because of power outages. School was cancelled in both Clare and Farwell Wednesday, Becker said. Just after 2 pm Wednesday, he reported that Farwell School’s power had been restored, but Clare Schools were not scheduled to be restored until Thursday. “I don’t know for sure, but think they will continue to be closed tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.
The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids warned the area of the coming storms. They reported severe thunderstorms located along a line extending from near Leota to near Big Rapids, moving east a 40 miles per hour with gust of 60 miles per hour. The NWS said to expect damage to roofs, siding and trees and to expect impact in Clare, Mt. Pleasant Shepherd, Farwell, Rosebush, Lake Isabella, Harrison, Brinton, Windover Lake, Bailey Lake, Lily Lake, Lake George, Delwin, Winn, Springwood Lakes Elbow Lake, Five Lakes, Loomis and Eight Point Lake. A warning to Gladwin County said the storms were located along a line extending from Roscommon Township to six miles east of Harrison, moving east at 30 miles per hour with 60 mph wind gusts expected to hit Gladwin, Skeels and Beaverton and other eastern communities mid-afternoon. Warnings also went out to Roscommon and Ogemaw Counties.
Across the state, in the aftermath of the storms, Consumers reported 103,576 customers had lost power, while DTE Energy had even more, reporting 203,696 without electricity Wednesday morning. Statewide over 339,000 were without power Wednesday morning, Becker said.
Businesses in Clare, including MyMichigan Medical Center were on generator power if open at all. Power for the hospital was scheduled to be restored by Thursday morning and patients with scheduled appointments were encouraged to call ahead. Urgent Care was open MMMC reported, but with limited services and increased wait times.
In the counties around Clare, Isabella still had 1,211 customers out at around 10:30 am Wednesday morning; Mecosta had 932; Midland reported 10,324 out; Gladwin reported 8,425; and Osceola had 1,330 without power.
DTE Energy reported that they were bringing in 800 line workers from outside their area to help speed restoration.
Becker reported a link that anyone can use to find information about severe weather. It is www.consumersenergy.com/outagemap or www.poweroutage.us/area/state/michigan.
He said, “You can also access them through our website at: www.clareco.net/emergencyservices tab.
