Thousands waking up in the dark as strong storms hit West Michigan

Storm update This is a severe weather alert. You are watching 13 on your side. Good morning to you. I'm Emily and I'm Tanner Holbrook. We're coming back on the air this morning to give you an update on those severe storms that push through much of West Michigan. A lot of those storms are now starting to clear out of the West Michigan viewing area. But we want to give you an update right now on power. So let's get right to that right now. We know more than 100,000 and that number is growing. The last number I had heard was around 100 and 25,000 customers that were without power. We're now up to 100 30,000 customers without power. Muskegon and Kent County have the bulk of the outages. So in Muskegon, around 34,000 folks are without power. Ottawa is approaching 10,000 customers without power. This is according to consumers, energy and around 46,000 people in Kent County alone are without power and this is something that we've been following over the last several hours watching those storms move across Lake Michigan starting in the Wisconsin area. Meteorologist Blake Hanson has been tracking this all since late last night. Really? Blake, are we done with the worst of this? Yeah, the worst of the storms are now done with. Now, our attention will be turning to the recovery and clean up of the storms. Now, some of the, uh, top wind gusts recorded across West Michigan. Meske County airport, a 71 mile per hour wind gust Norton Shores, 70 miles per hour in the Stony Lake area. White Hall, you can see a lot of this towards the Lake shore, uh in excess of 5060 even 70 MPH. The squall line that came in that brought in this extensive damage. The extensive wind gust is now pushing almost south of the Michigan State line heading into parts of northern Indiana and Ohio. All of this originated back in Wisconsin at around midnight. Earlier this morning. We're still holding on to some rain. Uh, from about, well, Ottawa Kent Ionia County to the south, but places north of 96 drying out quickly, there is a loop over the last 12 hours. Look at northwest Wisconsin. Those were the storms that fired up and look at the trek they made over the course of the early morning hours. They accelerated in momentum and that brought in the extensive coverage of wind and damage that all started in the Green Bay um Metro area and has now extended through West Michigan. This was a time lapse just a quick time lapse. Look at the shelf cloud working right in out of our Grand Haven beach camera that leading edge of rain and wind that was around six this morning. A few photos sent in around West Michigan, Chris here in Holland, just a textbook shelf cloud. Uh, the leading edge of that squall line that brought in the wind and rain has numerous other photos being sent in to us around West Michigan. Uh We'll have more on the uh clean up efforts and the latest on your weather forecast coming up. Blake. Thanks for that. Now, we're checking back in with consumers energy. Consumers Energy update Joining us is Brian Wheeler with consumers energy. Brian. I know we just ran down our power outages that we have at the moment. We're talking around 130,000 folks in this area without power in West Michigan. So let's get it straight from you. What's the latest, what are your crews seeing out there? And what are they tackling right now? Yeah, no question. This storm has continued to grow in intensity. Um I'm in the Lansing area right now. We're still seeing the effects of it coming through. So really job number one right now is to assess the damage whenever there's an outage situation like this, we make sure to see what we're up against how severe the damage is and then what we can do to more quickly restore power to people because we know there are a lot of folks who are affected, of course, and Brian, of course, wanting to see that power restored as quickly as possible. Now that the storms have moved through our area still will be dealing with some heat. So, wanting people to get that power back on as quickly as possible. We spoke with you all earlier this morning when you said you'd have to wait for the storms to clear. Has that process started in West Michigan and any update on an estimated time for getting that power restored? Yeah, absolutely. You know, as, as the, the weather, uh, deescalates that will help. Um, we've had crews. It's still early in the day, of course, but we've had crews who started their shifts at six o'clock this morning in, in large numbers. So those people will be working through the day today into the evening. Um, we don't have a firm sense of how long it will take to get everybody else, uh, restored. Stay in touch with our adage map. I know we'll be communicating with you as well. Clearly, this will be work that goes on through the day into the evening and probably into tomorrow as every minute goes by, we'll get a better handle on what we're doing. We've already touched on this earlier this morning, but I want to get a sense of what you're supposed to do around a down power line or even a down power pole. Obviously, if you have live wires. That is not a good situation in any stretch of the imagination. But what are your recommendations from consumers energy if you see a down power line or down power pole, what do you recommend folks do? And also on that same note, if you see a consumer energy crew out there, what should you do? Yeah, part of that assessment, part of that initial reaction to the storm is trying to make things as safe as we can. Still, you will see downed power lines and we always tell people to stay 25 ft away or more. You want to stay a considerable distance away from a downed power line. Assume it's energized, assume it's live. Um We will work to get resources, fire consumers, energy crews on site to make sure that situation is safe. But if you see a line down call 911 call consumers energy. And of course, yes, we will have a lot of people working by the sides of roads in your communities throughout the day today. Just take the time to slow down as you're going around because there's a lot of activity. And of course, each severe weather situation is different, but anything that viewers should know who are listening to this waiting for that power to get back on in terms of anything that's getting in the way of you all restoring power, getting crews to work that might make this take longer than we like. Yeah, she, well, as you alluded to it is warm weather. Uh, summertime storms can, can be difficult because we all want to have the comfort of air conditioning or being cool in our homes. So we are in touch and we'll be in touch continuing with local community leaders to understand what needs are. I'm not aware of anything like cooling shelters or, or centers that have been set up at this point, but we'll work to communicate that to the public as soon as we learn more. Um Really, it's a question of the intent city of the storm. We know how to restore power. We've trained for situations like this and now we have to make sure that we know what we're up against Brian. Of course, we are now past the storm. We heard earlier this morning that there were crews staged ahead of this. How far in advance do you guys typically plan that? Is that something that you guys do the night before or is this something you're always monitoring the forecast and waiting for things to kind of play here. How does that work on your end? Like a lot of people, we watch the weather very closely. We've been having planning calls and scheduling calls for the last few days. You recall, we had some severe weather last week as well. So we've been working to cycle our line workers off the grid off their work when they, when things are quiet enough, make sure they're getting the rest and then they're ready to go with those 16 hour shifts. That'll help us restore power more quickly. Um We have been planning in trying to move our resources to start their shifts, start their work at six o'clock this morning. So that gives us a long batch of coverage, particularly as the weather uh scales down. Now, our work can really wrap up Brian Wheeler with consumers energy. We appreciate your time this morning. I'm sure it will be a long and busy day for you. So we appreciate you updating our viewers. Thank you. Thank you. All right, let's get to Jerry mcdowell who is in the White Hall area of near Muskegon County, Jerry. I understand you're joining us by phone. You sent us some pictures which are pretty gnarly, lots of down trees where you're at. What are you seeing there? Yeah. Well, it's, it's just bedlam up here. We, we woke up around 550 this morning to what sounded like a freight train, uh doors blowing open on the house and heard a couple of trees crashing on the roof. So, so we waited till daylight took cover and we went out into the neighborhood and trees down everywhere. Big old oak trees, um 50 60 70 year old trees. We're, we're seeing some of those images from you. Now, Jerry, thank you for sending these in. Explain to us more what the condition is like, now we've got light out. You're able to see more of what's happened. Are you seeing any damage to your home? Yeah. Right now I'm standing in my driveway and, uh, I've been able to circle the house, trees are on top of it. Neighbors houses have, uh, trees that have went through the bedrooms, uh, guy to the right, you know, one of the oak trees ripped up a gas line, there's a gas, uh, smell of gas in the air. Thankfully, uh White Lake Fire Department and their, uh, their emergency permit personnel are out here trying to close it down and prevent it, prevent further damage. But it's, it's really, um, it's disaster area up here. Yeah, I mean, you were talking to me, we were talking a little bit before we got on the air here, Jerry together. And what you were telling me was a lot of the roads up there are impassable. Uh, where are you, uh, off of? And, and what you were telling me earlier that you just cannot drive up your street. Is that what the characteristics are today? Yeah, the, the roads were unpassable. There's, uh, trees crossed White Lake Drive South Shore all the way up the, uh, White Lake, the south side of White Lake. I'm told by fire personnel that you, you can't access 31 either. And from North Muskegon. Uh North. Wow. And right now viewers are seeing pictures from another resident in White Hall, Virginia, who we spoke with earlier, Jerry. I want to get back to your situation. Have you been able to speak with neighbors at all? We know it's still early in the morning. But have you all started to make rounds to ensure that everyone around you is safe and doing? Ok. Yes, we have, you know, we, everybody kind of pokes their doors open and, and takes a look, but it's a great community up here. There's wonderful people and, uh, people were knocking and checking in on each other, making sure everybody was safe and, and, and thankfully, that is the case, but there will be a lot of cleaning up and a lot of, uh, community work clearing out these trees and, and putting these houses back together, Jerry, we were hearing from the person we spoke with earlier, Virginia earlier this morning. She says that she lost her pontoon and I understand that you were saying that a lot of people have lost boats as well. Um, can you characterize some of that damage for us? Yeah, it's, it's second hand, but I've, I'm told that there is, uh, docks, uplifted boat flipped, um, canopies that are just shredded from the wind. So you'll see, uh, all kinds of damage over there and along the lake shore. And, uh, it's a little too early to tell, but I, I'm sure that, uh, South Shore Marine and, and Dan mccormick will be out there doing uh doing some work and, and trying to put everything back in order real soon. Well, Jerry, we've heard this description before, people saying it sounds like a freight train. As you, you hear that damage come through. Have you experienced anything like this before where you live? You know, uh it, it had to be 1998 right? And the last time those straight line winds came through, I mean, it looks familiar These, these trees have just like went from standing straight to just blown straight over. There's not a whole lot of twist to them. They're snapping at about 30 ft up big trees that have been there for generations, right? Just snapping, uh, snapping right in the middle. And it, it, it, it feels and, and looks a lot like those, uh, wins back then. Yeah, Jerry, what's next for you? And, uh, your situation there? Are you gonna start the clean up process today? Are you gonna help others? What, what's kind of the next step for you here? Yeah, I, I'd imagine we'll come together with some chainsaws and start clearing pathways. Um, you know, I have a, I personally have a Subaru Outback that is, uh, underneath a tree and, um, can't even see it. So, uh, we'll assess that. Probably throw some tarps over holes and rough and, um, take some time and one day at a time until we can get this back together and, and, and get to work All right. Well, Jerry mcdowell in White Hall joining us live here over the phone. Uh, we actually have a reporter, uh, several reporters headed up to, uh, that area, but one specifically going to that hard hit area. Um, and so of course, we'll be able to see that damage firsthand right here on the air. Jerry. I want to thank you for so much for speaking with us over the air today. Glad to hear that Jerry's doing ok. He says that neighbors have already been knocking on each other's doors, check in, making sure people are safe and I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about that as the morning goes, something that you see in some of these uh situations, Straight line winds you see the communities really coming together in the aftermath of destructive storms like this. And you actually heard him talk about the straight line winds back in the nineties. That was something that we touched on earlier this morning. Can you kind of compare the two events? Obviously, I don't think this is as destructive as that, but very similar in the characteristics, similar characteristics of the 98 de show that occurred during the middle of the night that swept through West Michigan. That was a very extensive uh show across much of the country. This event here a little bit smaller in scale. But this is uh I want to just take a look. This is velocity data. I sampled the winds uh from earlier this morning. Uh, and it's just showcasing just before six o'clock. That's when that leading edge of the squall line made its way into parts of Oceania and Muskegon County. This is a sample of the wind, uh, in Whitehall. I want to go back to where I had a good reading of the wind and you can see right here. No, it's gonna update in just about a second or so. It should and there it is there right in here just in proper White Hall, uh indicating some of the wind, the velocity of 80 plus MPH. Now, this is sampling guys a little bit above ground level by, by about 1000 ft or so. But in these squall lines, these line of thunderstorms, their momentum can uh allow that wind to mix down to the surface. And it is probable that there were wind gusts in excess of 6070 MPH in the White Hall area, the Muske County Airport, Norton Shores, we had two reports of uh 70 plus mile per hour wind gusts. So by far a definitely a impressive line of thunderstorm activity that went through much of West Michigan, especially again, Ocean and Muskegon County where we're seeing the extensive damage, the extensive power outages and some of which have extended in the county. Uh notice. However, guys that this uh squall line continues to press now, uh south of the state line into Indiana and Ohio, not as extreme as what we dealt with earlier, but, yeah, it's still carrying its momentum. Uh, nine hours worth of the squall line that originated back in Wisconsin. Yeah. Uh, certainly a tough day for West Michigan. A lot of people are gonna be cleaning up this afternoon in Viewer pictures the days ahead. We've been seeing many calls and messages coming in talking about the effects of this. Some people even thinking that they may be seeing a tornado, but of course, Blake had mentioned that we were seeing some of the similar conditions even though that wasn't so much of the threat this morning. So I'm sure as the day goes on and we get those final reports, we'll be able to get some answers. And a lot of what the damage that we were seeing is a lot trees blown over. And of course, the National Weather Service makes their final determination there. But you, you heard Jerry there a couple of minutes ago say there wasn't as much twisting of the trees rather than them being blown over. So, uh, of course, this is one of those situations where a lot of people in the next several days will be uh getting a handle on what uh what to take there. So we know how destructive those straight line winds can be. We've been getting in pictures from our viewers. I'm hoping we can pull those up now to show people some of the damage that people have been sending in to us. This is one picture here showing what many viewers have been describing and that's just waking up to seeing trees and debris all over the place. That's what we're seeing in these pictures. This one was actually from somebody we interviewed on the air earlier this morning in the six o'clock hour. Um You can see she was right on the lake shore. She even said that her pontoon had blown away. She, at that point, she, that was what she was thinking happened there. But she was also talking about how some of her dock on the water had kind of lapse there. So she was trying to figure out the situation which I would imagine many folks are in that same boat right now. Yep, that was our, our viewer out of White Hall, Virginia. We spoke with her live on the air and we've got crews heading to these areas as we speak. White Hall, the Muskegon area to get a closer look at the damage that people have been telling us they're waking up to. Yes. If we can really quick, we'll take one last look at power outages before we let you go. This is a live look at the consumer energy outage map. Uh You can see exactly where that line of storms started. Uh, obviously Blake said it started way back in Wisconsin, but as it across Lake Michigan, you can see where it entered and where exactly it's impacted. I mean, it is a tell tale line going right down the heart of West Michigan and impacting. Uh, a lot of folks in Kent County up there in Muskegon County, Ottawa County is not out of the woods in this either. Uh, but of course, a lot of crews will be out there assessing the damage. We're talking some 135,000 customers just in the West Michigan area affected this morning by those power outages, we spoke with consumers energy a couple of times live this morning and they say those crews are ready to get started to get that power restored. Absolutely. One of the things that they were talking about too is if you see a down power line, you're going to want to stay at least 25 ft or more away from it, you will also just want to stay clear of any damage. You know, a lot of people want to get out there and look at the damage. If you don't have to be in an area, I would recommend I'm just going to go ahead and say it don't be in that area. If it, you know, pertains to you, that's fine. But I mean, if you don't have to be in any sort of area, uh that you don't belong in today, in some of those harder hit areas, you're not gonna wanna be, you want to stick with us throughout the day as we continue to cover the aftermath of this morning storms that includes coverage uh concerning traffic, any more damage that we're continuing to follow up on and as well as weather conditions for the rest of your day. So our storm coverage will continue today. Stick with us here on 13 on your side. This was a severe weather alert from 13 on your side.