4Warn Weather – Hundreds of thousands of DTE Energy customers were without power Friday after severe storms moved through Thursday night for the second night in a row.
As of 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 25, more than 226,000 DTE Energy customers were in the dark, according to the utility company’s outage center. That number continued to rise throughout the morning and into the mid-afternoon.
DTE said power should be restored to 80% of customers experiencing outages due to the storms by Saturday. All customers experiencing outages should have power restored by the end of the day Sunday, officials said.
Those outages were widespread throughout the Metro Detroit area, with significant groupings of thousands of outages in Detroit, Wayne County and Oakland County. See the DTE outage map here.
People are urged to stay away from downed power lines, as they are dangerous. Avoid entering any flooded areas, as well.
Report an outage to DTE here. Report an outage to Consumers Energy here.
What to do if you find downed power lines
Stay at least 20 feet away from downed power lines and keep children and pets inside.
DTE Energy said you should assume that all downed power lines are energized and dangerous.
You can report downed lines to DTE Energy by calling 800-477-4747 or to Consumers Energy by calling 800-477-5050.
If you believe the downed power line poses an immediate danger to the public, you should call 911.
Energized wires that have fallen may whip around, spark or arc as they look for a ground. Energized wires that have found their ground might not move at all or make any sound, but they are still dangerous.
Click here to learn more about electrical safety from DTE Energy.