Dearborn was among the worst hit by major flooding in the Metro Detroit area over the weekend. The severe storms also knocked out power to thousands.
Four days later, many neighborhoods, specifically in the South End area of Dearborn, are still in the dark.
DTE Energy power outages have ranged from more than 50,000 outages, down to below 15,000 outages over the last four days, but one thing remains consistent -- Dearborn is in the dark.
Dearborn residents are cleaning up after heavy rains caused massive flooding early Saturday morning. According to the DTE Energy Outage Map, some neighborhoods lost power on Saturday around 2 a.m., while others lost power early Sunday.
More: Dearborn families try to salvage belongings in aftermath of severe flooding
The cause of the outages are listed as “wind damage,” and restoration times have continuously been pushed back.
Power outages in the Canton Township area from storms on Monday night were fixed within hours of popping up on the outage map. As of Tuesday morning, the Dearborn area is the only city with major outages left in Southeast Michigan.
The South End of Dearborn is home to predominantly low-income Arab Americans. According to data compiled by the City of Dearborn, residents in the South End typically have a lower income, higher unemployment rate and more residents below the poverty line, compared to the rest of Dearborn and Wayne County.
In a statement Tuesday morning, DTE said:
Two DTE substations in the Dearborn and Southwest Detroit areas sustained extensive damage from the heavy rains and resulting flooding that occurred overnight Friday into Saturday morning. The flooding in the substations left equipment inoperable, resulting in outages for approximately 12,000 customers.
Our teams have been working around the clock to assess damage at each of the substations and to develop restoration plans. Approximately 75% of the customers impacted by the substation outages have been restored.
Restoring all of our customers is our priority. We’re working to deploy mobile generators in surrounding neighborhoods to get power back until repairs at the substations are complete. We expect to have the majority of the remaining customers restored by later this evening.