(WXYZ) — A days-long stretch of extreme heat is expected to hit southeast Michigan, and businesses and neighbors in Berkley are working overtime to keep cool as temperatures near triple digits.
Watch Whitney Burney's video report:
At Clark's Ice Cream in Berkley, staff are prepping to serve scoop after scoop during the heat wave.
"I would say most days we're getting a line at least to the dumpster around the building," Maria Fiorini said. "I wonder if the heat is maybe going to push people away, keep people inside. I always expect people to be coming. I think it’ll be busy."
A few blocks away, athletes on the tennis court are putting mind over matter to battle the heat.
"I got my one and a half gallon jug, but I just try not to think about it. Take it one hour at a time," said Berkley boys head coach Sam Subia as he taught a tennis lesson Monday.
"This is my only lesson for the week, so I’m happy about that," said Ari Schindler before going back to the tennis court to continue practice.
For Berkley neighbor Bill Placeway, the heat brings concerns beyond just staying cool. He's getting yard work done early and hoping to keep his home comfortable over the next few days.
"The cool spot in my house is the basement and that’s probably where I’ll spend it because you can run up a bill with the AC and I don’t have central air. I go with the units in the wall and window," said Placeway. "When it's stifling out here like it is, the window with a fan in it just doesn't cut it anymore," Placeway said.
Placeway said a recent storm already knocked out power in his area, and he worries extreme heat could do the same.
"Well, the heavy storm we had a couple weeks back, we lost power. And it's usually the same area," Placeway said.
Related Video: Extreme heat warning in effect Tuesday through Thursday
When we asked Placeway whether power loss is a concern heading into the heat, he said it absolutely is.
"It's a tax on the grid," Placeway said.
DTE says it has been monitoring the incoming system and is all hands on deck to prevent brownouts or power loss.
"We've been watching this system come toward us over the last week or so, and in that time we've made multiple plans," Jerry Tullio of DTE said.
Tullio said the utility is prepared for the surge in air conditioning use across its service territory.
"Lots of people are going to have that AC on full blast. Is there ever a concern about that overwhelming the grid and if so what are you guys doing on the backend," 7 News Detroit Anchor Whitney Burney asked.
"We're not anticipating any problems, however, as I said, we have people staged across the territory and ready to respond to any issues that might arise," Tullio said.
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