MARQUETTE, MI-- Thousands of people remain without power Thursday afternoon, after early-morning thunderstorms brought high winds and lightning to the Western and Central U.P.
Upper Peninsula Power Company is working to restore electricity to residents in an area from approximately Chassell west to Ontonagon County and north to Houghton and Keweenaw counties. The storm caused trees and branches to fall on three American Transmission Company transmission lines, subsequently causing outages and impacting UPPCO’s distribution system and customers.
Officials say UPPCO has brought its Portage peaker generating facility online, enabling restoration of power to majority of Houghton. Additionally, power has been restored to Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital in Laurium.
The storms have forced the temporary closure of Emily Lake State Forest Campground and Twin Lakes State Park in Houghton County. At Emily Lake DNR fire officers had to cut their way into the campground with chainsaws. The National Weather Service is expected to visit the rustic campground to determine if the area was struck by a tornado.
Power was reported out at F.J. McLain, Baraga, Fort Wilkins, and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness state parks.
