Battle Creek, Marshall to provide tree and storm debris pickup; 15,000 still without power

The cities of Battle Creek and Marshall will provide tree debris pickup next week after a Wednesday ice storm knocked down trees and left thousands without power across lower Michigan.

Battle Creek residents must have their branches and limbs at the curb by Wednesday, a week after the damage, for pickup. Items can be dragged to the road as is and do not have to be cut up, city officials said in a Thursday release.

Marshall residents are asked to have their brush curbside by 7 a.m. Monday, according to a Facebook post. Limbs and brush must be less than four inches in diameter and a maximum of six feet long, city officials said.

About a half-inch of ice covered Michigan’s southern counties as part of the storm, resulting in more than 8,000 downed wires and impacting more than 250,000 Consumers Energy customers, the energy provider said Friday.

“Our crews are working round the clock to get power back to customers as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy’s officers, in a statement. “We still have a long way to go, but as our teams continue to work together to clear debris and assess damage, the restoration work will only speed up. We’re grateful for the patience and understanding of our customers as our crews continue their hard work.”

Based on current assessments, a majority of affected customers should be restored by Sunday, Consumers said. Restoration work should continue and be largely complete by the end of the day Monday.

Nearly 16,000 Consumers Energy customers in Calhoun County were still without power at about 11 a.m. Friday morning.

The most outages continued to be in Battle Creek, where about 21% of Consumers' 9,697 customers in the city were still without power, according to Consumers Energy's outage map.

Elsewhere in the county, Consumers reported 923 customers without service in the Marshall area Friday morning. The Albion area had 2,334 customers without power and the Homer area had 995.

Consumers urges people to stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, keep children and pets away, and report the issue by calling 911 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy also asks the public to keep a safe distance from crews.

Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Creek, Marshall to provide tree, storm debris pickup