Nearly 49,000 Consumers Energy customers in Kalamazoo County were still without power Friday afternoon, following storms that caused widespread tree damage and power outages Thursday night.
Track the number of Consumers customers without power on the utility's outage map
By Friday morning, some businesses were looking for ways to keep food cold.
Bret Pittman was outside Sawall Health Foods in Kalamazoo, shoveling dry ice into buckets on the tailgate of a pickup truck. He said his company, Kalamazoo Dry Ice, started getting calls around midnight after storms knocked out power to four in 10 Consumers Energy customers in the county. Pittman expected a busy weekend.
"It’ll probably be, I’m sure, through Sunday and maybe even Monday," he said, noting that during a power outage, the business serves "anything from restaurants to plasma centers and hospitals. Whoever needs it."
Pittman added that 10 to 15 pounds of dry ice will keep a chest freezer cold.
"Refrigerators are a little harder, just 'cause you need a small amount, 'cause if you put too much in then it freezes your food. But side-by-sides, the freezer side’s real easy to keep, or chest freezers."
Another business, Pro Services, dropped off generators to help keep things cold at the grocery store and restaurant.
"If this works, we shouldn’t lose any," said owner Mark Sawall.
