Thousands Lose Power In Monday Storms
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - A late spring storm is blowing across Michigan Monday, leaving thousands of Detroit area homes and businesses in the dark.
About 5,000 homes and businesses in the metro Detroit area are still without power this evening because of the quick but heavy storms that rolled through.
At one point the storms knocked out power to more than 13,000 DTE Energy customers. About 2,500 were without service in the area of I-94 between Telegraph and Inkster -- and in the area of Telegraph and Wick Roads.
Another large outage was in the Belleville area, where 1,500 homes and businesses lost service. Another 700 customers lost power near North Branch in the thumb area.
Other outages were scattered.
A severe thunderstorm warning for Wayne and Lenawee counties has expired. (For the latest weather alerts, visit our weather page).
Reporting from downriver Monday afternoon, WWJ's Mike Campbell said Taylor residents were dealing with storm damage and flooding at Telegraph Road between Wick and Ecorse Road. He said street lights were out and northbound Telegraph road was under water, with cars getting by on the shoulder.
Thunderstorms packed high winds, knocking down trees and power lines in West Michigan. A 75-year-old man suffered an injured hand Monday morning after briefly being trapped in a vehicle by a storm in Kent County's Cascade Township.
A lightning strike caused smoke inside a garage in the Grand Rapids area. Hail also was reported.
Meantime, CBS 62 Chief Meteorologist Jim Madaus said the area is seeing signs of the coming summer, with high humidity and soaring temperatures that are expected to come within shouting distance of 100 degrees by Wednesday -- brings some severed weather along with it.
Monday's high is 88 degrees, Tuesday is 91 degrees and Wednesday tops out at 93 degrees, with Thursday's high decreasing to a relatively cool 91 degrees.
Madaus said it's not unusual to get highs in the 90s this time of year.
"It's maybe a week or two late this year for the heat, the real heat," Madaus said. "I expect it to stick around a good part of this week, it's going to be uncomfortable. Best thing to do is drink plenty of water."
DTE expects to have power to all customers fully restored by Monday night.
Keep it tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for traffic and weather, every 10 minutes on the 8s. Visit our weather page.
