GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A homeowner in Grand Rapids shared surveillance video of a tree in his yard falling onto his driveway Monday afternoon.
Jake Wielhouwer, who lives in the 3400 block of Fulton Street in Grand Rapids, said he had just returned home from a morning meeting when he got a call from his neighbor.
He had no idea, and it must have fallen over the driveway moments after he pulled in.
Despite having a yard full of trees, Wielhouwer said this hasn't happened before.
"I'm going to go dig out the chainsaw and see if the chain is sharp enough, and everything is good to go. We'll try to cut it up and get it out of the way," Wielhouwer said.
As of 2:30 p.m. Monday, Consumers Energy is reporting about 53,000 people without power.
Heavy rain, snow and ice continue to fall in West Michigan Monday, 13 ON YOUR SIDE's Meteorology team says.
This comes after an ice storm last week that knocked out power for thousands.
Kent County's incident map shows first responders tending to wires down throughout the county.
The freezing rain is clinging to trees and power lines, causing some to fall.
If you have to be out on the roads, you're asked to be alert and take it slow. Stay away from downed powerlines.
If you see a power line down, here are some steps you need to take according to Consumers Energy:
- Be alert to crews working along the roads. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they safely can go past workers on roadsides.
- Call 2-1-1 if looking for help connecting to resources offering assistance in your community. 2-1-1 is a free statewide service.
- Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement, enclosed patio or near any air intakes. Doing so could cause a generator to produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. Read more guidance on safe generator use here.
- Consumers Energy will trim or remove trees interfering with electric restoration activities. Once safe to do so, clean-up of debris from tree trimming or removal during a storm emergency is the responsibility of individual property owners.
- In some cases, the mast that holds the electric service wires to a home or business may have been damaged or torn away. Crews will reconnect the wires to a home, but only a licensed electrician can repair or replace a mast or a cable.
To report an outage and check the status of the outage, click here.
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