LIVONIA, Mich. — Families living in a neighborhood off of Ann Arbor Rd. near I-275 in Livonia say they lost power around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night as an ice storm passed through.
Thursday morning, branches remained covered in ice and caution tape was strung across homes where trees and downed power lines threatened safety.
"A lot of times when (the power) goes out, it goes out here when those trees fall on the wires," said Johnnie Kwapis who lives in the area. "As long as it doesn’t get really cold, we’ll be alright."
Kwapis says despite the cold temps and no generator, he and his wife were able to manage throughout the night.
"Me and my wife are retired, no kids, just a little dog. So, we just made the best of it last night and this morning got the fire going in the fireplace, got some warm food, got some whoppers and ice to put in the freezer," said Kwapis.
DTE says more than 500,000 customers are without power following the historic ice storm. DTE President Trevor Lauer compared the 1/4 inch of ice that covered power lines to a baby grand piano hanging on the lines.
"It was about 54 (degrees) when we got up this morning," said Sue Corney of her Livonia home after losing power overnight.
Corney says she and her husband have lived in their home since 1975. She says after losing power a number of times over the years, their community worked with DTE to remedy the problem. They also invested in a generator for times when power outages might persist.
"I know this is different. The last ice storm we had, (the power) didn’t go out and we were very lucky, and this time, 9:30, it was gone," said Corney. "I miss my internet. My internet is down so I can’t watch any TV but other than that we’re doing fine. The microwave works. The refrigerator works. We're doing fine."
DTE says the freezing rain and cold temperatures on lines and trees resulted in nearly 5,000 downed lines Thursday.
"Apologies to all of our customers and the historic nature of this ice storm and what they’re going to go through but I do want you to know we have an army out here. We are going to restore your power," said Lauer at a Thursday press briefing.
DTE says around 3,500 workers are making their way through neighborhoods across the state. They will be focusing on areas with downed lines first as they pose the most danger. They’re urging customers to avoid clean-up as live wires could be hidden in debris.
"Safety is the number one priority for our entire state today. From Michigan to Lake Erie, we have wires down. Some of those are going to be live and you need to treat every wire like it is live," said Lauer.
Lauer says at minimum people should stay a bus length away from live wires as touching one could result in death.
DTE says as the night progresses they could face an additional challenge with heavy wind speeds which will prevent linemen from working at elevated conditions.
"The ice is still frozen on everything including our wires. We’re expecting between 30-45 mph winds to start about 3 o clock today so right now what we really need is everything to melt before the wind starts. If everything is still frozen, these (outage) numbers are going to climb," said Lauer.
They say pending more winter weather, they expect to have 95% of customers' power restored by Sunday.
