A powerful windstorm swept through the Midwest and Northeast Wednesday, and  left over a million people without power. Michigan and New York were the hardest hit states.  According to DTE Energy in Southeast Michigan, this was their largest weather related outage ever with over 700,000 left without power.

Tree blown into power lines in Lake Orion, MI

Winds gusted over 60MPH across the state for more than six hours. This was a rare wind event for Michigan. According to the National Weather Service there have only been 14 Wind Events (which classify as multi-hour winds over 40MPH) since 1941in the state.

During the peak outages there were over a million in Michigan alone without power. Most of the power was expected to be restored by Saturday evening.

Another hard-hit area was Rochester, NY.  In Monroe County alone there were over 100,000 outages, which was their most wide-spread in 14 years.

In New York there were over 200,000 left in the dark. According to National Grid, RG&E, and NYSEG it will be a few days before power is fully restored.  Peak wind gust were in Rochester with winds hitting 81MPH.

With severe weather season around the corner more power outages are sure to come around the country so lets take a look at a few tips for when the power is out.

-If you see a downed power line don’t go near. Call the power company immediately.

– Food in the fridge will only stay cold for about four hours.

-Food will stay cold in a half full freezer for about 24 hours and 48 hours if it is full.

-Use flashlights and not candles if possible. This will reduce the risk of a fire.

-Turn off or disconnect any appliances in case of power surges.

-To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning use generators outside.

Remember to take it easy during power outages. Check on the elderly and disabled to make sure all their needs are being met as well.