Another utility in the state, Consumers Energy, estimated that power would be restored in most areas by Sunday, but possibly as late as noon on Monday for some locations. About 36,000 of the company’s customers are without power throughout southern Michigan, including in Kalamazoo.
For some riding out the winter storm, this is the second power outage in six months. Severe thunderstorms in August led to blackouts across the state. Ms. Capling said she was without power for three days last summer. Both times, she lost all of her food.
“A lot of people can’t afford that,” she said. “Especially with the rising cost of groceries right now, it’s extremely frustrating and upsetting.”
Ben Saltsman, who lives in Bloomfield Township, and was without power for two days, said that he has a kind of routine now because of the frequency of blackouts. First, he empties his ice machine; he’s learned from experience that it creates a huge mess. Then, he clears his refrigerator and takes the food to friends who do have power.
“We hope they don’t eat the good stuff,” he said.
Ms. Capling said she, her husband and four of her children, ranging from 1 to 18, have temporarily moved in with her father-in-law in Pinckney. Her husband can work from home, but she has had to commute to work an hour out of her way. Her children have also missed three days of school.
“My 3½-year-old is just asking when we can go home,” Ms. Capling said.
The American Red Cross has also opened four warming centers across southern Michigan, providing cots, warm meals and water. At one point, Ann Arbor, 40 percent of which is out of power, had four warming centers open, but it was down to one by Saturday evening, city officials said.
When Kathy Space woke up early on Thursday in her home in Portage and tried to flip on the lights, she immediately knew that she was in trouble.