LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Over 300,000 Michiganders lost power and suffered damage from the weekend’s severe weather. As of 3 PM, Tuesday, April 1, there are still over 38,000 outages, a majority in northeastern Michigan, with Presque Isle Electric & Gas Cooperative alone reporting over 32,000.
In response, Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency in 10 counties on Monday. Captain Kevin Sweeney, the deputy state director of emergency management with the Michigan State Police (MSP), said they have been monitoring the situation since Sunday.
When the governor declares a state of emergency, dozens of representatives from state agencies gather at the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) at the MSP Headquarters in Diamondale to coordinate the response.
“Down in the State Emergency Operations Center, every state department has a representative,” Sweeney said. “This helps open up the door to more funding, more services from the state of Michigan. There’s a really strong partnership, there’s a really strong response going up in those ten affected counties in northern Michigan.”
The storm brought down powerlines and spread debris that teams are still working to address. MSP works with the National Guard, the Department of Transportation, utility companies, and local emergency managers to learn what help is needed and to deliver it.
The SEOC allows for immediate access to departments that all bring something different ot the table. Captain Sweeney said the current priority is life safety measures and power restoration. The state is working to get fuel, oxygen, and debris clean-up equipment to first responders. Once the immediate crisis is addressed, the response switches to recovery, and the focus shifts to more clean up and long-term issues.
Captain Sweeney said MSP hopes to make the transition in the next few days, but it’s dependent on incoming weather and when the current power outages are resolved.
More Michigan State Police resources can be found at Michigan.gov/miready
