FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — This week's storm is costing many metro Detroit families hundreds of dollars.
From having to throw away spoiled food to buying fuel for their generators, residents are counting the cost.
Meat and seafood from Vince Jones' freezer are what he managed to salvage, and he’s preparing to barbecue as soon as possible. He had to toss a fridge full of perishable items to the curb.
“I would say roughly around $300 worth of food," he said.
It's a loss and cost associated with the ongoing power outage in his Farmington Hills subdivision.
“I did stay in a hotel last night in Novi," Jones said.
He said it cost him "about $200 for one night.”
Next door, David and Carolyn Clark are running a generator.
“This actually saved the day for us,” Carolyn Clark said. “We were close to losing the stuff in the freezer.”
The Clarks are concerned about wasting food and powering the sump pump to keep water out of their basement. To minimize their losses and any potential damage, which translates to money, Clark said her husband made a three-hour trip to Grayling to retrieve the generator.
"Fortunately, we knew that we had a generator up north that we’ve never used. But, we thought, maybe it’ll work down here because the sump pump well was full,” she said.
She said she’s unsure of a dollar amount the outage has cost them but without the generator, there’s no doubt it would be worse.
Across the road outside a nursing home, I chatted with Elsa Martinez who said she’s spent $400, so far, on propane to fuel the generator.
We turned to the WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Facebook page to find out what the outage is costing other metro Detroiters.
Adrian Krul estimates $750. Randia Dickerson said she spent $200 for a hotel and isn’t prepared to open her fridge.
Tony Baker said he threw out $150 worth of food. Jenna Hatala said she's spent $185, including dining out. Debbie Testen praises whole house generators.
Jones said he's tired of the outages and their impact and so, he's considering investing in a whole house generator within the next year.
“Cause this is gone pay your itself," he said.
For a link to the DTE outage map and anticipated restoration times for your area, click here.
