WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – Thousands are without power right now after severe weather hits southeast Michigan, damaging homes and knocking out power to tens of thousands of people.
Heavy rains and massive winds rolled through sections of Canton Township and Westland, and the damage ranged from uprooted trees to blown transformers.
One of which caused power surges into two homes on Yale Street that started fires.
“We usually don’t get two houses on fire, but we will get a house on fire fairly regularly,” said Westland Deputy Chief Darrell Stamper of the Westland Fire Department. “This happens two or three times a year. This will come through.”
As soon as the storm blew through, dispatch lit up with 75 calls for service—most for downed wires, although several large trees fell.
Local 4 was in Westland when the storm blew through with heavy rains and winds. But some spots were hit with huge gusts, which brought down massive old trees.
“It got really dark and the wind just kind of blew,” said Lisa Schroeder. “We were cooking dinner and looking out the window, and then all of a sudden, the wind picked up probably 60 miles per hour, and it just gushed part of our tree, and it just fell.”
In neighboring Canton Township, firefighters cordoned off a section of Lilley Road after high winds brought down wires and had a large utility pole dangling over the street.
There are large power outages spread throughout the western Wayne area.
“A big message that I would like to get out to the residence is if there is a transformer that does out or if there is a down wire in your neighborhood to just stay inside your house,” Stamper said. “Going out and trying to look at stuff, call 911 and let the fire department come out and handle it.”
Some of the powerlines are still down and have electrified the fences in the area.
DTE Energy was on the move Monday (Aug. 29), but there’s still a lot to take care of throughout the night and into the morning.
