News

Mar 20, 2024

80K still without power after storms toppled trees, power lines

Brian Rubel of Ann Arbor wasn't home when a massive tree fell on his home of 17 years during a powerful storm Wednesday that included 60 mph winds, but hearing about the damage and seeing it were two

Brian Rubel of Ann Arbor wasn't home when a massive tree fell on his home of 17 years during a powerful storm Wednesday that included 60 mph winds, but hearing about the damage and seeing it were two different things.

“I just wanted to know how bad it was inside,” said Rubel, who shares the house on Ticknor Court with his wife and nephew, shortly after officials ruled the house uninhabitable Thursday. But “seeing the master bedroom was destroyed from the outside; that was quite devastating.”

Rubel, 55, was one of several homeowners across southeast Michigan grappling with damaged homes after a line of storms ripped through the region Wednesday afternoon, toppling power lines, breaking tree branches and uprooting trees like the one in front of Rubel's home.

A wind surge hit the Grosse Pointes especially hard, along with the Ann Arbor and Dexter areas. Winds at Detroit Metro Airport clocked in at 65-70 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

An estimated 133,000 people were without power Thursday night.

The number was down to 79,437 as of 6:40 a.m. Friday. DTE reports that 78,198 were still in the dark Friday while 96.5% of its customers had power. Consumers Energy said early Friday that it has 1,239 customers without electricity while 99.9% have service.

Robert Johnson, 58, of Detroit lives next door to where a tree came down on Bishop Street near Mack Avenue on the city's east side. With the tree still laying across the street Thursday morning, Johnson said he didn't even hear it come down but hadn't seen anything like it before.

Johnson said he loves Detroit, but between power outages and flooding — his basement has flooded three times in nine years — the thought of moving out of the state crosses his mind every now and then.

“I know infrastructure problems are increasing across the nation and underfunded cities like Detroit seem to get hit harder,” he said. “But I think about moving ... I love the city, but this always gets me thinking about it.”

A funnel cloud was spotted in the Grosse Pointes during Wednesday's storms but the weather service said it did not touch down.

"We’ve heard no indication of touchdown," said Andrew Arnold, a meteorologist with the office in White Lake Township. "There was a really good wind surge. From everything we’ve seen so far, there was just a funnel, not a tornadic touchdown."

By Thursday night, DTE has restored power to 24% of those who lost electricity in the storm. About 124,725 customers remained without power. Consumers Energy, which had fewer outages, had restored power to 70% of customers, with 8,645 remaining in the dark by Thursday night.

DTE had estimated power would be restored to 50% of consumers by the end of Thursday and to 95% by the end of the day Saturday.

At a Thursday morning news conference at Willow Run Airport, Joe Musallam, DTE's vice president of distribution operations, said the electric utility planned to have almost 2,000 line workers in the field around the clock to restore service.

“As the weather system moved through, we lost 165,000 customers, of which about 154,000 still remain without power,” he said. “Although 97% of our customers have power, we want the 154,000 customers to know we’re laser-focused on getting their power back.”

He said the Ann Arbor and southwest areas, and Metro Detroit were hit hard by the storm. “We will really be loading up on crews in those areas.”

Bill Hutchinson, DTE's director of emergency preparedness and response, said about 200,000 customers were without power during the storm. In some cases, he said, a single falling tree knocked out several power poles, making it difficult for cleanup and repair.

"It's not just broken limbs, but those uprooted trees require multiple crews," Hutchinson said, including some to handle the trees while others fix the lines. "We have to make sure we can repair safely."

On Thursday, Ann Arbor city officials said they were restricting non-essential water use due to the power outage effect on the water system. The restrictions will remain in place until further notice.

"There are no water restrictions for essential indoor water usage — drinking tap water, cooking, sanitary uses and bathing may continue as normal," they said in a statement. "Water quality is not impacted by these restrictions; the water remains safe for all allowable uses."

They urge residents to refrain from running dishwashers, laundry machines or watering lawns, filling swimming pools or washing cars. They also ask homeowners to turn off automatic sprinklers and irrigation systems.

Officials said they will evaluate the restrictions Friday morning.

Michelle Gordon, 46, was in her front yard on Bishop Street near Mack Avenue on Detroit’s east side before 9 a.m. Thursday with a step ladder, trimming the bushes. A short distance away, a large tree toppled by Wednesday’s storms was strung across the street, baring its roots to the houses facing north.

In the distance, the droning of Gordon’s generator could be heard. She said she started the machine on Thursday morning after her power didn’t come on.

“This is all we can do,” Gordon said. “We just have to deal with it.”

Gordon said thinks the outages in her neighborhood are becoming more frequent.

“It seems like it happens a lot around here,” she said. “That’s why I bought my generator a couple of years ago. I got fed up with it.”

Temperatures, meanwhile, will continue to heat up for the rest of the week and there's a chance for more severe storms on Friday, though the weather service a lot of uncertainty remains.

Arnold said Friday will have a heat index of 95-100.

"It's going to be hot and humid," he said.

Hutchinson said DTE was preparing for more storms Friday.

"We've been preparing for the past week," he said Thursday. "We've onboarded more than 3,000 resources, ... including foreign crews coming in from surrounding states. We're continuing to onboard resources for the right capability in the field to respond safely and efficiently."

Several communities including Detroit, Dearborn and Westland will have cooling centers open through Friday to help residents avoid the heat.

"We want everyone to take extra caution in hot weather and during the times there is unhealthy air quality," said said Christina Floyd, Detroit's acting chief public health officer.

Wednesday's storms hit less than a week after a round of storms that included tennis ball-size hail damaged homes, businesses and cars.

As cleanup began Thursday morning, Musallam said crews will focus on public hazards like downed wires first and then assess damage, he said.

Restoration will begin with customers such as hospitals, nursing homes, police and fire departments, Musallam said. Then they will tackle the largest customer outages and work on the single customer outages last.

“As with any weather event, our focus is the safety of our customers and our employees,” he said.

He urged the public to avoid downed power lines and to stay away from areas marked with hazard tape.

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