MARQUETTE, MI— Strong winds gusting to nearly 60 miles per hour in some areas of the Upper Peninsula Monday threw around anything that wasn’t tied down.
Trees were blown onto power lines, cutting electricity to thousands of customers. As of 7 p.m., UPPCO reported outages affecting more than 5,000 residents; We Energies crews worked on getting power back to more than 8,000 customers, and Xcel Energy was dealing with nearly 3,000 outages.
Branches that touch live lines can also cause electricity to arc and start brush fires. One closed M-553 near Silver Creek Road in Sands Township.
Law enforcement reminds residents not to touch downed power lines, as most are still electrified. Contact your local utility and let them know where the affected line is.
As of 7 p.m. Monday, utilities reported the following number of electrical outages:
- Alger-Delta: 95
- Cloverland: 192
- MBLP: dozens
- UPPCO: 5,330
- We Energies: 8,133 (UP)
- Xcel Energy: 2,915
