At around 6:20 pm on Monday January 7th, much of East Grand Rapids experienced a power outage due to severe weather.

The areas that were affected by the power outage included most houses east of San Jose Drive between the streets of Lake Drive and Boston. Many drivers noticed that the intersection lights were out on the intersection of Lake Drive and Breton Road, as well as the intersections of Wealthy Street and Lakeside Road, and Lake Drive and Plymouth Avenue. As well as residencies, many public buildings, such as D&W, Wealthy Elementary, and East Grand Rapids High School, all lost power.

“My friends and I were coaching our 3rd and 4th grade basketball team at Wealthy Elementary,” Drew Theut ‘20 said about his experience with the power outage. “Once the power went out we had to call the players’ parents and ask them to pick their kids up. Getting ahold of the parents was a challenge because we were given many landline numbers, which were disabled due to the (power) outage. Since the whole school, including the gym, was pitch black the kids enjoyed running around and playing basketball in the dark.”

Many people also experienced a power outage while grocery shopping at D&W, but although the power was out the cash registers still worked, making it possible for the shoppers to continue shopping with minimal light. The D&W employees, though, closed one of the two entrances in order to control the traffic in and out of the store. While weather was to blame for the power outage, the wind calmed down later that night and the power was restored by the end of the night.