Courier-Leader photo/Paul Garrod
Courier-Leader photo/Paul Garrod
By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer
news4garrod@gmail.com
With Mother Nature delivering a one-two knockout punch of rain, ice and snow late Sunday night and Monday morning, Van Buren County Road Commission (VBCRC) crews began an early start Monday to their work week. The Road Commission said that although drivers began at 4 a.m., not all roads would be plowed prior to morning commutes.
Following Sunday’s spring like weather, with temperatures in the mid to upper 50s, complete with rain, and at times, a deluge of rain. Mother Nature then changed its course and turned the rain into ice on the ground, then snow, as temperatures dropped more than 30 degrees to the low to mid 20s, creating an icing event. High winds, with reported gusts of more than 50 mph. recorded in Paw Paw, made for treacherous travel conditions as winds blew the three to five inches of snow across roadways.
Consumers Energy began preparations this past weekend for Sunday night/Monday’s storms, adding more than 400 crews throughout the state who responded to any outages through the day Monday.
Consumers Energy urges the public to keep important safety tips in mind:
Be alert to crews working along roadsides. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they can go safely past.
Stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines and report unguarded downed lines by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy reminds people that falsely calling in downed lines actually slows down the restoration process for everyone.
Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement, enclosed patio or near any air intakes. Doing so could cause a generator to produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. Read more guidance on safe generator use here.
Consumers Energy will trim or remove trees interfering with electric restoration activities. Once safe to do so, clean-up of debris from tree trimming or removal during a storm emergency is the responsibility of individual property owners.
In some cases, the mast that holds the electric service wires to a home or business may have been damaged or torn away. Crews will reconnect the wires to a home, but only a licensed electrician can repair or replace a mast or a cable.
