Crews work to restore power to more than 300,000 Michigan homes, businesses after storms

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — Crews for two of Michigan’s largest utilities are working to restore power to more than 300,000 homes and businesses and hundreds of schools amid hot, muggy conditions after severe storms toppled trees and limbs and snapped power poles. DTE Energy says 350 schools in its Michigan service territory had no power as of Wednesday morning. Severe storms also toppled trees in the Chicago area, damaging homes and automobiles Tuesday night after two days of heat that set a record high of 99 degrees Tuesday at O’Hare International Airport. Severe thunderstorms were expected Wednesday across the Ohio Valley, the northern mid-Atlantic coast and parts of both North Dakota and South Dakota.