Updated on Aug. 12, 5:38 p.m. ET
Heavy storms Wednesday night and early Thursday morning left thousands of people in mid-Michigan without power, as streets and highways also felt the effects of flooding.
Consumers Energy reported more than 15% of its customers across the state had lost power following storms that swept across the state overnight.
The energy company tallied nearly 5,000 total outages across Michigan with 150,000 customers affected.
In Jackson County, more than a third of residents lost service.
Consumers Energy Spokesperson Terry Dedos says Michigan hasn’t seen a storm with this impact since March 2017.
"With the latest round of storms that brings this storm into our top 10 of all time,” Dedos said.
Dedos urged people without power to run their generators outside in a well- ventilated area to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
Consumers Energy has brought in seven out of state crews to assist with restoration efforts.
Dedos said crews are working around the clock to restore power and expects the remaining customers to see their power back on by Sunday night.
The Lansing Board of Water and Light reported 3,000 of its 97,000 electric customers lost power at the height of storm and as of 12:30 p.m. Thursday, only 100 customers remained without power.
BWL said crews are making progress to restore services and all customers should see power back by Thursday night.
Storms Lead To Flooding, Some Outages In Greater Lansing
Emergency officials in Lansing say the city “fared very well” after strong storms that swept through the region Wednesday night and early Thursday.
Several mid-Michigan streets and highways saw closures due to flooding, including US-127.
Greg Losch of the Michigan Department of Transportation said a stretch along US-127 from Kalamazoo Street to Saginaw Street is targeted for construction projects to alleviate flooding, though not before 2024.
“Some of the areas will be completely rebuilt. Some of the areas will not be completely rebuilt but will be brand new when we’re done, and that project has also noted that location and the flooding issues there, and we’re currently looking at solutions for that,” Losch said.
Relief from flooding in Okemos will hopefully arrive sooner than that. Losch said work is likely to begin next year along Grand River Avenue.
Lansing Emergency Management Division Chief William Engelter said there was some flooding in a few areas that are prone to high water.
“For instance, around Pennsylvania Avenue near Potter Park Zoo, which frequently floods, that one had some standing water in it which forced a road closure,” Engelter said. “We had some standing water up on Mildred Street. But other than that, it was pretty well under control and those are already being mitigated now.”
Engelter says there were no other reports of widespread damage in Lansing.
East Lansing City Hall was closed early Thursday due to a power outage but reopened at noon.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met with utility crews in Okemos Thursday afternoon as they worked to restore power.
The governor cited climate change as a reason for more frequent severe weather and emphasized the need for infrastructure improvements in the state.
The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Red Cedar River in Ingham County from early Friday until Sunday night.