GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Thousands of homes and businesses in West Michigan are in the dark as strong winds whip through the area.
As of 11:39 a.m. Thursday, a total of 12, 617 Consumers Energy customers statewide were without power, according to the company’s outage map. Roughly 4,500 of those outages are in West Michigan, including:
- Allegan County: 509 outages
- Calhoun County: 965 outages
- Ionia County: 1,387 outages
- Kent County: 1,020 outages
- Montcalm County: 107 outages
- Newaygo County: 503 outages
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for much of West Michigan, including Kent, Ottawa, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Ionia, Newaygo, Calhoun, Allegan, Barry, and Montcalm counties. Storm Team 8 says wind gusts could reach 35 mph to 45 mph with winds peaking from late morning through the afternoon.
The advisory is expected to expire at 8 p.m. Thursday.