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Hundreds lose power in Berkley for second time in less than a week

Neighbors report hearing a boom and a flash of light, then everything went dark
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BERKLEY, Mich. (WXYZ) — Neighbors in the Oakland Manor neighborhood of Berkley lost power again for the second time in less than one week.

They expressed anger and frustration about the reoccurrence.

Brian Edge was out snowplowing his driveway Friday around 9 p.m., trying to keep up with the deluge of snow.

He reacted to the dark house behind him.

“Pretty frustrated. You know, there were still people in the neighborhood that didn’t get power again until Wednesday,” Edge explained.

He said everything went dark around 7 p.m. Friday.

“Couple hours ago, we heard a transformer go and we’re kind of at it again. No power,” Edge said.

That’s right. Two times in one week. And he explained what it has meant for his family.

“Two younger kids, 7 and 10. Our house got down to 41 degrees, so we’re worried about pipes bursting and food in the fridge going bad and just the extra expense of all that,” Edge said.

Stacey Wittenberg was bringing her daughter and young friends home to a dark house.

“It’s my daughter’s 16th birthday and we just had a party for her,” Wittenberg said. “I’m sure the trucks aren’t going to be able to come out and DTE’s probably not going to be able to come restore our power any time soon.”

She said she does not have a generator.

“We just got a full fridge of groceries and a freezer of groceries because we were out for four days and I had to throw out all that food,” Wittenberg explained.

She has a message for DTE.

“We need help. Please come help our neighborhood. It’s pitch black here. It’s a blizzard. It’s really dangerous,” Wittenberg said.