DETROIT – Southeast Michigan residents and businesses without power following two nights of severe storms are expected to have their power restored by this weekend, DTE Energy said.
About 80% of DTE customers affected by the storms should have their power restored sometime on Saturday, Aug. 26, according to DTE’s Outage Center map. The remainder of customers affected by the storms should have their power restored by the end of Sunday, Aug. 27.
Officials did not say what, if any, areas would be restored first. The utility company’s website said Friday that additional crews from “outside our area” have been recruited “to expedite repairs.”
More than 250,000 Southeast Michigan residents and businesses were without power by late Friday morning -- a number that continued to grow all morning. Outages were widespread throughout Metro Detroit, with significant outage clusters reported in Detroit, Wayne County and Oakland County. See DTE’s outage map here.
The outages began Thursday, after the first round of storms blew through Southeast Michigan overnight, affecting tens of thousands of customers. Even more severe weather occurred across the region Thursday night into Friday morning, prompting hundreds of thousands of outages.
---> Wayne County declares state of emergency after severe storms: What residents should know
While crews assess damage and work to restore power, people are urged to stay away from downed power lines, as they are dangerous, and to avoid entering any flooded areas.
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.