METRO DETROIT (WWJ) - One quarter to half an inch of ice accumulation is enough to cause major damage, but Wednesday's major winter storm brought .75 inches to areas in Southeast Michigan — a level the state hasn't seen in almost five decades, DTE Energy says.
Between DTE and Consumer's Energy customers, over 680,000 Michiganders from Kalamazoo to Detroit are waking up in the dark Thursday morning as a messy weather system brought a crippling coat of thick ice that brought down trees and caused major damage to power lines.
DTE's Vice President of Distribution Operations Matt Paul said in an update at 7 a.m. that a substantial amount of freezing rain fell across Metro Detroit with widespread ice amounts up to three quarters of an inch.
"That's a level we have not seen in nearly 50 years," he continued. As of 10 a.m., over 480,000 residents in Southeast Michigan alone were without power.
Consumer's Energy reported just under 201,000 customers were in the dark.
Hundreds of workers from other states are helping with restoration efforts. Paul said crews are working to assess the amount of damage caused by the ice so there is currently no estimated time when all power will be restored.
Restoration times are expected to be updated as the day goes on.
"Ice storms moved through Michigan overnight and extreme weather continues to affect our service territory," Paul said. "The trees and branches that fell due to the ice storms damaged our power lines and caused outages. Our Storm Response Teams, along with line workers from neighboring states, will continue to work around the clock to restore power as quickly and safely as possible."
Paul added that ice accumulations of storm not only brought treacherous driving and working conditions for crews trying to restore power, but that much ice also adds a tremendous amount of weight to trees, tree limbs, wires, and other equipment.
On Wednesday, Paul said the weight of just a half an inch of ice adds 1,000 lbs to the wire, which is "equivalent to having a baby grand piano on that span of wire."
Besides trees and power lines, DTE has also received reports of utility poles being snapped in half under the weight.
Paul warned of the dangers of downed power lines, which was already blamed for killing a volunteer firefighter in Southwest Michigan, and the public should do "everything they can to stay away from those wires."
Residents should maintain a 25 feet distance from wires and watch out for anything that those wires may be in contact with, such as metal fences. As a reminder, don't touch anything that those wires are touching, the company warned.
Anyone who notices downed powerlines should call 911 first, then call 1-800-477-4747 or go to the DTE website to report it.
"As we're out there, we're going to do a lot of taping," Paul added. "We tape these wires off, so anytime anyone in the public sees yellow tape, please heed the warning of that caution tape: Do not cross that yellow tape because there's likely or it could be a live wire on the other side."
Warren resident Rakeeta Goldstena told WWJ that a downed powerline fell on top of her garage around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday while she was home in the area of Toepfer and Van Dyke. The powerline sparked a fire, forcing her fiancé and six children to flee the house before a second powerline came down and started another fire at a neighboring home.
The fire was contained by officials and no injuries were reported. Goldstena said the family spent the night in their car.
Paul also reminded residents that in the event of a power outage, never bring a portable generator inside the home for the risk of them emitting carbon monoxide.
"Carbon monoxide can be deadly," Paul warned. "So keep them outside. Never run the generators inside the home."
For the most current information about outages in your area, visit the DTE Outage Map.