Around 125,000 people are still without power three days after seven tornadoes touched down in Michigan as severe storms ripped through the state, killing five people.
Consumers Energy reported about 70,000 customers are without power as of 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Aug. 27, and DTE Energy reported roughly 55,000. That’s down from over 374,000 customers without power after Thursday’s deadly storms and nearly 230,000 on Saturday morning.
Related: Timeline: 7 tornadoes whipped across Michigan in less than 3 hours
Officials for both utility companies said they expect to have a power restored to a majority of customers by end of day Sunday, Aug. 27.
Currently about 11,000 Consumers Energy customers are without power in Kent County; nearly 17,000 in Jackson County; 15,000 in Eaton County; and 7,800 in Ingham County. On the east side, the biggest outages remain in Wayne County for 24,000 DTE customers, 12,000 in Livingston County and 5,500 in Washtenaw County.
The path of the severe thunderstorms on Thursday, Aug. 24, was almost exactly along I-96 from Grand Rapids to Lansing to Detroit. The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids and Detroit confirmed that seven tornadoes whipped across the state Thursday evening.
The storm left a trail of destruction in Kent, Ingham, Livingston, Monroe and Wayne counties.
- Northern Kent County: An EF-1 tornado clocking 110 mph winds started east of Peach Ridge Avenue and north of 6 Mile Road around 8:15 p.m. It traveled for almost 9 miles, snapping trees and damaging homes, before stopping just west of Rockford High School at 8:30 p.m.
- Ingham County into Livingston County: An EF-2 tornado then struck eastern Ingham County at 9:29 p.m. It touched down near I-96 where 17 semi trucks were overturned and several buildings were damaged by the 125 mph winds. The twister then continued into Livingston County, weakening into an EF-1, before lifting near Van Buren Road west of Nicholson Road around 9:42 p.m. Three people were injured and one died in this tornado.
- Canton (Wayne County): An EF-0 tornado with 80 mph winds touched down northwest of the Pheasant Run Golf course in Canton around 10:19 p.m. It brought down tree branches and caused a tree to fall on a house before dissipating north of the Lower River Rouge two minutes later.
- Belleville (Wayne County): This EF-1 tornado touched down around 10:23 p.m. south of the Wagner Homestead Farm. It then traveled southeast, bringing down trees and striking the Mobile Manor Trail Park. It lifted around 10:26 p.m. near Pebblebrook Drive and Fret Road.
- Newport (Monroe County): An EF-1 tornado with 100 mph winds first hit a field in Ash Township around 10:38 p.m. It traveled southeast, cutting through Frenchtown Villa Mobile Home Park where roofs were torn off and one home was flipped over. The tornado then crossed over I-75, bringing down power poles and large tree limbs before dissipating around 10:42 p.m. near North Dixie Highway and Post Road in Frenchtown Township.
- South Rockwood (Monroe and Wayne counties): Another EF-1 tornado touched down around 10:39 p.m. on Carleton Rockwood Road east of Telegraph Road. It then traveled east for over 5 miles, snapping trees and bringing down tree limbs. It ended at the Detroit River at 10:45 p.m.
- Gibraltar (Wayne County): An EF-1 tornado hit the Brownstown Creek area at 10:38 p.m. It traveled southeast across West Jefferson Avenue and Gibraltar Road before crossing a portion of Edmond Island and Horse Island. It lifted at 10:43 p.m.
Read more on MLive:
Tornado ‘tossed around’ 17 semis, toppled billboards, sheared off treetops along I-96
Michigan farms demolished by tornado: ‘There wasn’t enough time to get to the basement’
‘I thought I was going to die’: Michigan trucker escapes from rolled semi during severe storms
‘All of our trees just hit the ground,’ couple says of riding out suspected tornado