More than 381,000 customers in Michigan were left without power on Tuesday. Severe storms brought damaging winds, heavy rains and flash flooding to parts of the Midwest and the South. Three people, including two children, died. 

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As per DTE Energy, about 265,018 customers were without electricity. Most of them were on the southeast side of the state. Consumers Energy said another 116,085 were without power.

“Those heavy rains, when they fell, a lot of them fell really quickly and in a short time,” said meteorologist Brad McGavock with the weather service in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which covers parts of Arkansas. “Water management through those storm drains can really lead to a big volume of water through those culverts.”

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How do customers apply for reimbursement from DTE, Consumers Energy?

As per Michigan utility regulators, customers, who have lost power for extended periods of time are eligible for reimbursement from their power companies. 

Michigan Public Service Commission says that residents are eligible for a $25 credit under three conditions:

1) An outage of more than 120 hours under “catastrophic conditions” which include events that result in either an official state of emergency or an event that interrupts power for more than 10%of the utility

2) An outage of more than 16 hours under non-catastrophic conditions

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3) Eight or more outages within a 12-monthperiod. Once credit is received, the 12-month period resets.

Customers can visit DTE and Consumers Energy’s credit page to apply for credit. Their requests will be approved after investigation. 

The storms were widespread in states including Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Tree branches and power lines fell while winds gusted as high as 58 mph (93 kilometers per hour) at Battle Creek Executive Airport in Michigan and 60 mph (96 kilometers per hour) in Huntington, southwest of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the weather service reported.

On Monday night, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said that he was declaring a state of emergency after excessive rainfall exacerbated problems in one of Jackson’s water-treatment plants and caused low water pressure through much of the capital city. A swollen Pearl River caused flooding in Jackson on Monday, days after storms dumped heavy rain.