Michigan’s severe weather triggers flooding and mass power outages

Storms across Michigan have led to flooding and power outages across the state, including large parts of the Detriot metro area.

Freeways were closed in response to the storms on Wednesday night, Michigan State Police said, according to the Detriot Free Press.

The agency tweeted that as little as six inches of water can cause a vehicle to stall.

“All of the watches and warnings have expired across the district. However, heavy rain is still an issue through the rest of the evening. Also, you may come across some darkened intersections. They are a four-way stop even if no traffic is present”, MSP Metro Detriot tweeted on Wednesday night.

As many as 84,000 homes and businesses lost power in Michigan, according to Consumers Energy, with winds of more than 60 mph (97 kph).

Consumers Energy’s Officer In Charge, Guy Packard, told the Detriot Free Press that “we were prepared for the strong storms to hit our state and had crews in place to begin restoration as soon as it was safe to do so”.

“We appreciate the patience of our friends and neighbours, and we are committed to working around the clock to get the lights back on for everyone who counts on us as quickly as we can”, he added.

DTE Energy in Detriot had more than 20,000 customers without power as of Thursday afternoon, according to its website.

The company said in a storm update that “if you are experiencing a power outage following the severe weather that hit Southeast Michigan, please report it”.

“Our crews are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power to everyone impacted. We estimate that 90 per cent of customers will be restored by the end of the day”, DTE added. “Individual customer estimates will be available mid-afternoon today. Please be safe and remain at least 20 feet away from downed power lines or anything in contact with them. Assume any downed line is live and dangerous.”

Consumers Energy had around 150 crews in the field working to restore power in several counties, including Genesee, Kalamazoo, Allegan, Barry, Jackson, and Calhoun, the Detriot Free Press reported.

State Police warned drivers on Wednesday, tweeting that “with the amount of rain that we are seeing in these storms, freeway flooding is a possibility”.

“Keep those speeds down and be prepared for ponding and flooding across the district. And as always don’t drive around barrels and don’t drive through flood waters”, the agency said.