METRO DETROIT (WWJ) - The aftermath of damaging storms is being felt in Southeast Michigan as tensions continue to mount over widespread power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
DTE estimates over 200,000 customers are in the dark as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, more than 36 hours after fast moving storms packed a punch to most of the Metro Detroit area.
Officials for DTE said power is expected to be restored to 80% of its customers by Thursday with the rest coming Friday, but for many residents, it's not quick enough.
Jack from Birmingham called WWJ and expressed frustration with DTE over poor communication with customers regarding restoration efforts.
It's a the same anger felt by many still in the dark.
"The biggest problem is that we're not getting any feedback from DTE," Jack said to WWJ's Luke Sloan. "They've got this website you can go to that gives you an estimation or cause and their website does not give either so it's completely useless."
Officials for DTE have been referring customers to the company's Outage Map for restoration times, but on Monday night and into Tuesday, many estimates were unavailable.
The site briefly experienced a technical difficulty just before 6:30 p.m. after the storms rolled through Aug. 29 -- outages could not be pulled up on the page at all.
An error message greeted many DTE customers looking for restoration times after wide spread power outages on Monday eveningDTE Outage Map
"You'd think in today's day and age we would have power, even from storms," Jack told WWJ. "We should be working really hard, besides fixing our roads, to get our lines underground."
The WWJ newsroom received numerous calls Tuesday, with many residents voicing the same concerns.
Frustration has mounted tenfold with the recent widespread outages since DTE proposed a rate hike, which would see an 8.8% increase for gas and electric on most households.
DTE Vice President of Distribution Operations Joe Musallam told Sloan he understands the concerns and the company has worked hard to prevent increasing rates for the last three year.
"Our average bill for our customers were below the national or at the national average, which is something we're very proud of," Musallam said. "...We know the impact of outages far outweighs the impact of the rate increases we're proposing and we're going to invest these in a way that provides the best reliable and the most growth for our customers."
The Michigan Public Service Commission will make a yes or no decision on the proposal in November.
In the meantime, the energy company says more than 1,000 linemen working in the field to repair the over 3,000 power lines downed as a result of the storms.
At its peak, the severe weather knocked out power to over 265,000 customers as Southeast Michigan was blasted with straight line winds up to 70 mph.
Reports of uprooted trees, debris in roadways and even a 'gustnado' came pouring in from around the listening area.
Wind damage knocked down power lines, causing dangerous situations in Macomb and Monroe Counties.
A 14-year-old girl died after grabbing on to a live wire than had fallen in her backyard on Monday and two young boys are hospitalized with injuries after coming into contact with a downed power line near an elementary school in Warren on Tuesday.
Fire authorities and neighbors in Roseville pulled a senior citizen from a house fire after a downed power line was suspected of starting the blaze on Tuesday afternoon.
DTE is warning all residents to stay 20 ft. clear of any downed power lines and items the line may be touching, such as a fence or structure.
