(WXYZ) — DTE is reporting that more than 2,500 customers are without power as of Monday afternoon.
Watch Randy Wimbley's video reports:
"Our Storm Response Teams are ready to restore power as quickly and safely as possible," DTE posted on its outage map.
"Today's weather conditions are making it extremely dangerous for our crews to restore power," said Bill Hutchinson with DTE. "High winds create risks when climbing poles or working in bucket trucks."
Hutchinson said more than 1,000 DTE employees and contractors are working around the clock to assess damage and restore power. To speed restoration, DTE has also reportedly brought in 900 linemen and tree trimmers from across the country.
"We do expect, if we get the consistent 60-mile-an-hour winds all the way through 10 p.m. tonight as predicted, that we will have power outages tomorrow," said Hutchinson.
Julie Gillette is one of those in metro Detroit without power.
"I was actually having my coffee, and there were two massive explosions that scared the heck out of me," she says. "I’m not going to be going to work anytime soon; it’s pitch black in the house."
"Thank God I was smart, I got up and put my coffee in a thermos before, so I at least have some warm liquid, and thank God we have a gas stove," Gillette continued. "So I might be leaving the water running, just leaving a trickle overnight. I don’t know when it’s supposed to be restored."
DTE is encouraging people to stay at least 25 feet away from any downed power lines.
