95.3 / 88.5 FM Grand Rapids and 95.3 FM Muskegon
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kent & Ottawa Counties Urge Safety During Power Outage

flickr.com

Kent and Ottawa Counties are urging safety for those who are without power and may be wondering how long their refrigerated food will last.

Major thunderstorms overnight have left more than 100 thousand West Michigan residents without power.  Consumers Energy estimates full power restoration may not happen until Sunday in some cases.  Because of the wide spread duration, the Kent County Health Department and The Ottawa County Department of Public Health have joined forces. They’re reminding residents to be careful to avoid food borne illness and reduce their risk to potential injury or death.

They advise, if the power is out for less than four hours, the food in the fridge should be safe.  But while the power is out, keep the doors closed as much as possible.  When the outage lasts more than four hours pack items like milk, eggs and meats in a cooler surrounded by ice.  They also advise you throw away items that have been exposed to temperatures greater than 40 degrees for more than two hours.

For more information about power outages and  food issues, you can go to: https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/poweroutage/needtoknow.html

Jennifer is an award winning broadcast news journalist with more than two decades of professional television news experience including the nation's fifth largest news market. She's worked as both news reporter and news anchor for television and radio in markets from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo all the way to San Francisco, California.