75K Without Power After Severe Storms Blow Through Metro Detroit
DETROIT (WWJ) -- Severe storms that moved through the metro Detroit area resulted in about 75,000 outages for DTE customers -- mainly in the areas of Taylor, Romulus, Westland and Dearborn Heights.
DTE spokesman John Austerberry said crews are working to prioritize the problems.
"First, we want [residents] to report any downed lines because that's a safety issue and we need to get people out there to provide protection," Austerberry said live on WWJ Newsradio 950. "We still need people to call -- it really helps us pinpoint where the damage is and helps us in our restoration efforts."
Crews will work 16-hour shifts around the clock to restore service. Austerberry said that people should be extremely careful around downed power lines.
"Any line that's down on the ground, you need to assume it's a live power line and very dangerous and stay way from it," Austerberry said. "We recommend staying 20 feet away from any line that's on the ground and keep that same distance from anything it's in contact with."
It is unknown when power will be fully restored, but DTE says that some customers may be without power through the weekend.
See DTE's power outage map HERE.
To report and outage or downed power line, call 800-477-4747.
Don't get caught in the storm: Keep it tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for the latest forecast during traffic and weather, every 10 minutes on the 8s. See the live, local radar now at this link.
Sign up for severe weather text alerts: Text STORM to 95001
For daily weather forecast text alerts: Text FORECAST to 95001
