ORTONVILLE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Strong storms left nearly 400,000 Michigan residents without power, and for one woman, the aftermath became a close call she says she will never forget.
Watch Jeffrey Lindblom's video report:
Dawn was heading home to watch fireworks when heavy rain washed out her windshield — and she unknowingly drove over a downed power line, not once, but twice.
"I didn't see it. It was raining, and I just couldn't see it. I drove over it twice," Dawn said.
The line had fallen in her front yard during Friday's sudden, windy weather and temporarily knocked out power to her home. She did not realize what had happened until the next morning.
"It's the power line! I was scared to death," Dawn said.
After a long, hot night without power, Dawn called DTE and learned the full scope of what she had driven over.
"After I found out… Gosh, I could have been killed," Dawn said.
Someone came out quickly to fix the line, which Dawn said she was thankful for. But for others, the wait stretched on for days.
Bill Daugherty was without power for five days following the storms.
"It's been out for five days. Thank God I have a generator, or I'd be losing stuff out of my ice box and my freezer and everything else," Daugherty said.
Daugherty ran his propane-fueled generator throughout the outage.
"It's been running and running and running and running," Daugherty said.
The delays tested his patience, but power was eventually restored.
"Kept on delaying it and delaying it. Finally, it popped on. Couldn't believe it," Daugherty said.
DTE brought in crews from 12 states, as far as Texas, and international help from Canada to address the outages. The utility said the widespread power loss was driven by intense heat, quickly developing storms with little notice, falling trees, and the timing of the outages over a holiday weekend when resources were stretched thin.
RAW VIDEO: DTE President and CEO Joi Harris updates power outage repairs
DTE acknowledged that some progress was not quick enough for customers experiencing repeat outages. The utility said it is examining shortfalls from Friday's storms and is looking to improve communication and reliability. DTE is also reviewing trees that fell and knocked down power lines outside of their preventive parameters.
Dawn said the experience left a lasting impression.
"Yeah, I was frightened. That was awful," Dawn said.
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