Thousands Without Power After Severe Storms

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - About 19,000 southeast Michigan homes and businesses remain without power Friday morning after severe thunderstorms rolled through the area Thursday. About 70,000 customers were initially knocked off the grid.

DTE Energy said the hardest hit areas were in Pittsfield Township, near 94 and U-S 23; and Belleville, near 94 and Sumpter Road. Other communities with larger outages included Clarkston, Brighton, Milford, Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Northville and Waterford.

Shingles were blown off roofs in the Ann Arbor area and trees and chimneys were reported damaged in Ortonville.  The Washtenaw County Emergency Management said some trees and power lines down, as well as street flooding.

Power lines were down at 15 Mile and Harper in Clinton Township.

"We saw gusts of wind up to 45 miles per hour," said DTE spokesman Alejandro Bodipa-Memba, Thursday afternoon. "And we certainly have all of our crews out here working to assess the situation and the damage at this time."

Severe thunderstorm warnings have expired and a tornado watch for the entire southeast Michigan area was canceled early.

A flood watch is also in effect for southeast Michigan, including the metro Detroit area, through Friday morning -- with more rain expected Thursday night.

CBS 62 Chief Meteorologist Jim Madaus said rainfall totals of one to three inches of rain remain possible through early Friday morning. The forecast says storms may be capable of producing widespread damaging winds in excess of 60 mph.

With the ground already saturated from recent heavy rain, Madaus said the risk of flooding in lowlands and poor drainage areas will be elevated.

Here's the forecast from the CBS Detroit weather team:

Thursday Evening:  -- Showers and thunderstorms into the night. Some of the rain will be heavy and any thunderstorm could have damaging winds. Low 50.

Friday -- Some rain early will taper off; otherwise, mostly cloudy, quite windy and turning colder. An early high of 54, but temperatures dropping into the 40s in the afternoon.

Saturday -- Partly sunny, brisk and chilly. High 48.

TRAFFIC – LIVE RADAR –FLIGHT TRACKER

Check the CBS Detroit weather page for the extended forecast and up-to-the-minute information.

Sign up for severe weather text alerts: Text STORM to 95001
For daily weather forecast text alerts: Text FORECAST to 95001