LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — State health and emergency leaders urged Mid-Michigan residents without electricity after Friday’s severe storms to stay safe amid dangerous heat, as tens of thousands of utility customers remained in the dark heading into the Fourth of July holiday.
A line of severe storms swept across southwest and southcentral Michigan on Friday afternoon and evening, prompting a tornado warning for central Ingham County and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers statewide. The National Weather Service has not confirmed whether any tornadoes touched down in the Lansing area.
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The outages hit during a stretch of hot, humid weather. A heat advisory covering Lansing and much of central and southwest Michigan was in effect Friday, with heat index values reaching as high as 99 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
About 92,000 Consumers Energy customers were without power statewide as of 2:45 p.m. Saturday, according to the utility’s outage map. The Lansing Board of Water and Light reported about 3,100 customers without power Saturday afternoon. DTE Energy reported more than 234,000 customers still out in Southeast Michigan, down from a peak above 300,000.
For residents without air conditioning, the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services recommended calling or texting Michigan 211 or contacting a local health department to find a nearby cooling center…