DETROIT (WXYZ) — Frustration is what DTE customers without power are feeling. For some families, it isn’t the first or second time they are going to bed without power. But it is the first time for some that are going to bed cold, as temperatures drop.
“Now it’s getting cold so I have to turn on my oven,” said Albert Crenshaw.
Crenshaw is turning on his over to stay warm. He lives on Ulster Street in Northwest Detroit. It’s night 3 for him without power after this week's constant rain and strong winds.
“We should have power restored by tomorrow afternoon, but they tell us this all the time and it can go on for 7 days,” he adds.
He’s tired of the back and forth with DTE and his neighbor Coleman Reed feels the same way.
“It’s just a mess,” said Reed.
This is becoming a norm here for people who live in the Brightmoor neighborhood.
Reed says whenever they get rain and wind you can guarantee they’ll be sleeping in the dark and making several trips to the grocery store.
“Right now, we had to go get ice to keep everything straight. We’ve been dumping ice on it; $20-$30 worth of ice every day to keep everything frozen,” he adds.
The Wade’s stopped by the DTE Community Van in West Bloomfield for some ice and water.
“We are running out of everything,” said Roy Wade.
At this age, he says power outages are difficult.
“I’m 87 now. With my medical conditions and so forth, being without power makes it tough” he adds.
DTE Foundation’s vice president Rodney Cole says people are coming in the rain.
“Whatever we can do to try to help with what is a difficult situation for customers,” said Cole.
Trevor Lauer, DTE’s president of the Electric Company says they have about 1,000 crew out working to restore power.
“Right now our customers are frustrated with DTE and I understand that and empathize we should be giving them better reliability. We’ve struggled with the high winds that have hit SE Michigan this summer,” said Lauer.
