News Photo by Julie Riddle A workman on Thursday afternoon stabilizes a sign outside Downtown Union 76 in Alpena after the sign wobbled precariously in Thursday morning’s strong winds.

ALPENA — Thousands of Alpena-area homes and other customers lost power in Thursday’s high winds, local power companies reported.

Gusts of more than 60 miles per hour brought down trees and wires around the region, keeping power companies busy trying to restore electricity to customers.

At 2 p.m., Alpena Power Company customers had reported 2,300 outages, of which 1,800 had been restored, according to Alpena Power President Ken Dragiewicz.

Consumers Energy, which provides power to portions of Presque Isle and Alcona counties, showed multiple outage areas impacting hundreds of customers in Alcona County on its online power outage map.

Montmorency County Presque Isle Electric and Gas customers reported nearly 3,000 outages by 8 p.m., with more than 1,500 reported in Presque Isle County earlier in the day, according to the company’s outage map.

More than 1,300 Alpena County PIE&G customers lost power by Thursday afternoon, according to the map.

The map reported only one outage in Alpena Township and none in the city of Alpena as of 8 p.m. Thursday.

Some repairs may take several days, PIE&G said in a news release, citing more trees expected to fall and at least six broken utility poles.

The company cautioned residents to stay at least 25 feet away from downed wires and to report them immediately by calling 911.

The Alpena Fire Department on Thursday responded to five wind-related calls within city limits that included wires or smoke smells, according to Alpena Fire Chief Bill Forbush.

Equipment at the Alpena County Regional Airport recorded the day’s strongest wind gust at 62 miles per hour at 8:39 a.m., according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Sabrina Jauernic.

The area saw sporadic wind gusts between 30 and 40 miles per hour throughout the morning, with sustained winds between 20 and 30 miles per hour throughout the day.

Traverse City experienced the day’s strongest gust in northern Michigan, registering winds at 70 miles per hour on Thursday morning.

Friday should remain breezy in Northeast Michigan, “But not like today,” Jauernic said on Thursday afternoon.

Those without power should ensure proper ventilation around generators and avoid using the devices inside to reduce the risk of fire, Jauernic advised.