City of Portage Expanding Brush Pickup After Storm Damage

Thousands across Michigan are still without power after the latest round of severe weather on May 15, 2025.

According to MLive as of Monday morning over 14,000 Consumers Energy customers remain without power after nine confirmed tornadoes swept across the state forcing municipalities such as Kalamazoo County to declare an official state of emergency.

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When looking through the Consumers Energy outage map most outages were attributed to "weather" or "trees"-- and now post-storm cleanup begins. To those of us here in Southwest Michigan who experienced the tornadoes in May 2024:

Doesn't it feel like we just did this?

Hopefully all those trees we just planted to replace those lost in the 2024 storms haven't already been ripped out of the ground. Has "tornado alley" now grown to include Michigan?

While annual brush pickup has already been underway in Portage, Michigan the city has decided to expand pickup to help residents who are now cleaning up post-storm debris. Here's what you need to know:

While Zones 1 and 2 have already been picked up as scheduled the City of Portage plans to return for additional storm debris. Zones 3 and 4 will move forward as scheduled adding,

Residents in Zones 3 and 4 should place storm-related tree debris at the roadside to be included in their regularly scheduled pickup Zone. Due to the anticipated high volume of debris, delays are possible.

Residents are asked to make sure branches are cut into sections no more than 6 feet, cut trunks into smaller, more manageable pieces, and note that stumps will not be accepted. The Oakland Drive Compost Facility will also be open to residents with proof of residency on Saturday, May 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for storm debris drop-off.

Update Zone Pickup Schedule:

• Zone 3 - Week of May 19
• Zone 4 - Week of May 26
• Zone 1 - Week of June 1
• Zone 2 - Week of June 9

Note: the dates are subject to change due to volume or weather conditions. Follow the City of Portage, Michigan on social media to stay up to date or click here.