SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) — More than 65,000 DTE Energy customers in Metro Detroit had their power knocked out Thursday as high winds hit the area.
AccuWeather meteorologists said a powerful cold front sweeping across the state during the morning hours brought equally powerful winds of 20 to 25 mph, and gusts clocking in at double that.
Powerful gusts of around 50 mph brought down tree limbs and power lines in Macomb County and Oakland County.
Some of the biggest outages Sterling Heights, Taylor, Roseville, Chesterfield Township and Royal Oak.
One Royal Oak resident told WWJ the gusts were so strong, her small dog was lifted sideways off the ground while out on a morning walk.
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Peak winds were expected to last until noon before tampering off. A Wind Advisory issued by the National Weather Service expired at 2 p.m., and conditions calmed as the day went on.
Just before 8 p.m., DTE said there were just over 9,000 homes and businesses still without power, with more than 1,200 crews in the field working to restore service.
"Fortunately our system held up pretty well today...other than a couple, a handful of very major outages," DTE Energy President Trevor Lauer said, speaking live on WWJ. "Just all-in-all we have a lot of single customer outages that were caused by trees coming down in people's yards."
DTE reminds residents, as always, to keep at least 20 feet away from any downed power lines and anything they are in contact with, and always consider damaged lines live and dangerous.
Officials in Warren said they were dealing with multiple downed lines in the northeast side of town. Police were patrolling the area at several intersections due to traffic lights being out, including at 11 Mile Rd. and Groesbeck, and 12 Mile and 13 Mile in the Schoenherr Rd. area.
"We have deployed the CERT/Citizen Emergency Response Team to assist police at intersections. A power line fell on a car in that area! Situation is very fluid with new problems occurring," Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said.
Lauer said DTE will have the lights back on for 95% of Metro Detroit customers by Thursday tonight, with the rest taken care of "pretty early" on Friday. - CHECK THE OUTAGE MAP -
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