Wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour knocked down trees and power lines across much of the lower half of the Lower Peninsula Tuesday night.
Tens of thousands of Michiganders were without power this morning.
"As of 6 a.m. we have about 43,000 Consumers Energy customers without power," Brian Wheeler, a spokesperson with Consumers Energy, said. "We're projecting that most of those customers should get their power back today by the end of the day."
Wheeler said more than 200 crews were out fixing downed power lines and drivers in the area should be cautious near roadside crews.
In southeast Michigan, Ann Arbor, Inkster, and Ypsilanti were hit the hardest.
Bradley Craig is the director of emergency preparedness and response at DTE Energy.
"Through this event we saw approximately 25,000 customers impacted," he said. "Overnight, we restored about 8,000 of those customers' [power]."
Craig estimated power would be restored for all DTE customers by 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Some Ann Arbor Public Schools buildings were damaged and all classes were canceled today due to a fiber outage.
Many schools were without power, and bus and walking routes were impacted by flooding, water main breaks, and downed power lines throughout the city.
Craig encouraged customers to report damage and outages to DTE and not to assume that their electric meter would alert DTE that their power was out.
The Michigan State Police urged people to stay away from standing water that could be covering downed power lines.
"If you see downed wires — any situation where electricity and water are coming together — please exercise caution and stay a safe distance away," Wheeler said.
According to the Michigan State Police, flooding can create other dangers, too, including exposure to contaminants like E. coli, heavy metals, and petrochemicals and injury from floating debris.
"If you see anything out that appears hazardous, even if the wire isn't sparking, ensure that you're staying about 25 feet away, which is approximately the length of a yellow school bus," Craig said. "If you do need to use a generator, make sure that that generator is outside and away from any windows."
Editor's note: DTE and Consumers Energy are among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
