For many, this Thanksgiving weekend weather curveball is like an uninvited guest at the table, forcing residents to prepare for potential power outages as severe winds threaten the region.
- Severe Thanksgiving weekend weather prompts power outage preparations with increased generator sales at local stores.
- Consumers Energy deployed 250+ crews to respond to potential weather-related outages.
- Officials stress food safety planning for families gathering during potential power disruptions.
"It was like last week, it looked like it was gonna be great on Wednesday. And now all of a sudden, it's miserable," David Olds said.
Olds, who works at Hammond Hardware, emphasized the importance of being prepared for weather-related power disruptions. The store carries a full line of generator cords, adapters, and related equipment to help customers who may have generators but lack proper connection methods.
"One of the things we do is we carry a full line of generator cords, adapters, and things like that. So if people are out of power, even if they have a generator but don't have a way to hook it up, we usually have the way to hook it up," Olds said.
Generator sales typically peak during spring storm season, but the current weather conditions have created unexpected demand for backup power solutions.
"Springtime. As you can imagine, storm season in the spring is number one. We don't get, you know, you'll get an ice storm, it seems like in February. You don't usually get one this time of year, but these winds are just insane today, so we expect there is gonna be some," Olds said.
Consumers Energy has mobilized significant resources to address potential outages during the holiday weekend. Trisha Bloembergen from Consumers Energy confirmed the utility company's readiness to respond to weather-related power disruptions.
"We want our customers to know that Consumers Energy is ready. We have more than 250 crews that are prepared to respond to any power outages that might occur from this significant weather event," Bloembergen said.
With many families gathering for Thanksgiving meals, Bloembergen stressed the importance of food safety planning in case of power outages.
"We know that a lot of folks will have friends and family and neighbors over, and be making these incredible meals. So if a power outage may happen during your meal or after, when you're cleaning up, make sure you have a food safety plan in place. Go ahead and visit foodsafety.gov for more tips and tricks on what you can keep, and what you may need to dispose of, depending on the impact of the power outage," Bloembergen said.
Local businesses like Hammond Hardware are also prepared for the challenging weather conditions.
"We're prepared for it. We have our generators ready," Olds said.
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