Crews work around the clock as branches keep piling up

Jul 16, 2023

Consumers Energy has postponed restoration efforts. The utility company has announced its plan to restore power in the worst areas by Monday.

In the Riverside neighborhood, cleanup work is currently underway.

"It's been nonstop since Thursday or Friday morning. They cut the trees down. So we got to clean up some more. But it's been tough, but we can get through it," Mike Auch told FOX 17.

Auch's neighbor saw some of the worst damage in his block.

"He had two trees fall in his garage. His car and his back porch around the garage smashed. His car is buried," Auch explained.

Crews were out earlier on Sunday to clean up some of the mess left behind.

"[I] give the city kudos for the cleanup. You see them every day everywhere. So it's been, it's been good. Good. Seeing that in the neighborhood," Auch added.

Not far down the street is Sarah Snider's house.

"We lost a significant amount of one of our favorite trees. So, we were very sad about that. But just coming out and talking with everyone else, there's so much more damage here than what we had originally thought," Sarah Snider said.

Crews are still picking up some of the tree branches.

"So, we've seen stacks and stacks of not just brush, but full-on branches come down. We have a couple of trees down the road that have completely uprooted," Snider said.

Consumers Energy is still working to restore tens of thousands left in the dark.

"So, we're hoping to get most of our customers restored by the end of tonight [Sunday]. There are a few in our hardest hit areas, specifically within Kent County, Lowell, Rockford, Walker, Plainfield, those types of areas, we're just seeing unprecedented amounts of damage," Consumers Energy Director Of External Relations Katie Carey said.

For those who recently lost power, receiving a credit might not be guaranteed. Carey explains that a certain amount of time without power needs to be met to qualify for the credit.

"So it's after 96 hours without power in a catastrophic condition, which is where this would qualify. So, for the customers that lost power Thursday night, around 8-9 p.m., they would have to go through Monday, at 8-9 p.m. to be able to qualify for that credit, is an automatic credit, $35 that goes to your bill," Carey said.

Grand Rapids location for the drop site can be found here.

More locations can be found here.

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