I'm relieved to report that I have survived the wind storm - power in tact.

[Siwsan]

Flint is a mess. Several main roads are closed, due to live wires on the ground. Over 17,000 customers in Genesee County are without power and they are reporting over 3,000 downed lines and more than 500 broken power poles.The total outage in the state is listed as 212,000. They are estimating the time of restoration will be 3/11/17 at 11:30 pm. However, I've heard some may be without power for a week. The temperatures were in the 40's, today, but are headed down into the 20's and teens, by Friday. This was a really bad wind storm. The good news is, it doesn't appear there have been any storm related deaths.

So some positive thoughts for my beloved Michigan, tonight, as my positive thoughts go out to the people in other states who were hit by the same storm system.

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[bravenak]

1. Glad to see you are well at least

I hope the power gets back on for everybody sooner than expected. It's still cold.

[Siwsan]

3. I'm kind of expecting some 'guests', if power isn't restored, soon

My brother and several of his friends are without power. He has a generator and a fireplace, but that can get old, really fast. I was a week without power, after an ice storm in 2013. I have a fireplace and a generator and was still pretty miserable.

[bravenak]

4. Oh, that's good you can help a brotha out.

I know that when the power goes out up here in ak, we get super cold super fast. I plan on installing a fire place or a wood burning stove in here this summer. I have no idea why any place up here would be built sans fireplace.

[Siwsan]

5. My fireplace was a life saver, in 2013

The house was so cold that you could see your breath. I used the generator to run the sump pump and fireplace insert. The fireplace is in the den so I shut that room off from the rest of the house, and spent the week reading by candle light.

[bravenak]

6. Oh that sounds horrible.

I'm glad our power hasn't gone off in a while. It has been a cold and snowy winter

[Siwsan]

7. The worst part was when the wind shifted

The generator was out in the open doorway of the open screened in porch, but when the wind shifted to blowing from the north, it was so strong it blew the fumes back into the house, and I ended up with an exposure to carbon monoxide. I thought I was light headed from gas fumes because every time I stood up, WHEEEEEEEEE!!!! But when I left the house to buy more gasoline for the generator, my head would clear. Fortunately my brother figured out what was happening, before the buildup became too intense.

We ended up dragging the generator further away from the house, and just prayed nobody would steal it. Had we not realized what had happened, I likely wouldn't have lasted another day. I now have a carbon monoxide detector and my new generator is installed outside, on the complete opposite side of the house from my den.

My only after effects was that my taste buds were totally messed up, for months. NOTHING tasted right. But, all in all, I was beyond fortunate to have survived.

[gademocrat7]

2. Take care.

[safeinOhio]

8. About an hour NW of you.

Made it thru so far. Friends in Lansing not so good.

[Siwsan]

9. I was relieved to wake up to a calm morning

Hopefully they will make good progress, today, since it won't be too cold. And even though the temperatures drop, tomorrow, there's sunshine, but no precipitation, in the forecast.

Looking at the outage map, it appears that the parts of the county that were hardest hit by the 2013 ice storm are the biggest stretches that weren't affected by this wind storm. They did do a whole lot of branch trimming and equipment replacement, in this area, so that may be the reason we stayed on the grid.

[Fla Dem]

10. Glad to hear you came through the storm OK. Certainly a scary time.

[Siwsan]

11. DTE Energy is reporting over 800,000 customers w/o power and Consumer's Energy, over 200,000

It is officially the worst power outage, in Michigan's history.

A location just down the street from me just went out so this is far from over, even though the storm ended last night. I had some running around to do but now I'm sticking to home, just in case. I have a sump pump so, for me, a power outage also includes the potential for a flooded basement.

At least the weather is cooperating for the people doing the restoration!!