Local residents suffer with massive power outages as temps soar

As of Tuesday morning, July 23, some tri-community residents had been without electrical power for five days since storms and winds disrupted electrical lines beginning on Friday.
Some 600,000 businesses and residents in Southeastern Michigan lost power since Friday, when the mass outages began. That number was down to 91,000 on Tuesday morning. DTE plans to have all power restored by the end of the day on Wednesday.
The temperatures were in the 90s some days, making the loss of electricity harder to take. Over the week end the temperatures dropped, which helped somewhat.
On Friday there was a live wire in the parking area in front of an apartment complex in the 400 block of North Liberty Street in the City of Belleville. DTE said it was from a lightning strike. There also was a reported lightning strike of the flag pole at Five Points with no damage.
A house on Harris Road between Martinsville and Savage in Sumpter Township reportedly was struck by lightning and burned. The family and pets made it out without injury.
Residents along South Street in Belleville were without power until Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday morning the DTE outage map showed electrical power outages at 17 scattered locations in Van Buren Township, each with 100 or fewer residents.
More than 650 residents were without power along Savage Road in Van Buren Township and in Sumpter Township, Rawsonville Woods and locations north along Rawsonville Road were without power. The southeastern sector of Sumpter Township, running into Huron Township, also was without power Tuesday morning.
DTE said about 2,000 workers, 1,100 from DTE and about 900 from elsewhere, have been working staggered, 16-hour shifts since the storms hit. Most of the outages relate to tree-damaged power lines.
At a press conference Monday at DTE headquarters in downtown Detroit, Heather Rivard, senior vice president of electric distribution for DTE, called the mass outages “unacceptable.”
DTE sent out two community vans, one in Oakland County and one in Wayne County, distributing water and ice at the Costco in Madison Heights and the Kroger at John Daly and Ford Road in Dearborn Heights.
Those who have been without power for 120 hours or more may be eligible for a $25 reliability credit, said DTE. Those claims can be made through its website. Consumers Energy customers can do the same.