COMMERCE TWP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Hundreds of residents near Haggerty and West Maple Roads in Commerce Township are without power after overnight storms knocked out multiple power poles.
DTE says at least nine high voltage power poles were knocked out due a storm that brought strong winds and heavy rain late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.
Haggerty Road is now closed from Arimoore Drive to West Maple where multiple DTE crews have spent much of the day working to clear the area and get customers back on line.
"I’ve only walked around our community and we got off lightly it seems which we often don’t with storms," said Ian Mailing who lives in the area. "We often lose trees and major storms we usually have a tree down here or there so it’s quite bizarre that they had that impact and we had little to none."
DTE says they're still working to determine what caused the poles to come down but believe strong winds likely played a role. Workers on the scene added older power poles like the ones along Haggerty are more susceptible to damage.
"The thunder was incredible. The lightning was like a light show," said Jerry Markowitz who says his power went out overnight.
Markowitz says he brought food he was hoping to salvage to his daughters home. He says he’s considering a hotel if outages continue in the days ahead.
"You have to realize that our storms are getting worse and they’re becoming more frequent. I know people don’t believe in global warming but I do and I think this is evidence we’re in for a rough ride," said Markowitz.
DTE says there is no specific timeline for power restoration given the extent of the damage in the area but homeowners told 7 Action News crews they've been told it could take several days.
There's also no word on how long the road will be closed. However, it is likely to remain closed until power poles can be repaired as workers say the poles are posing significant danger and even electrically charging the grassy areas along some parts of the roadway.
"Crews are working as hard and as safely as they can to get as many as possible restored today and we do have more weather coming," said DTE spokesperson Dave Akerly to 7 Action News.
Akerly says customers should check the DTE website and app for the most up to date information on their power restoration status.
"Fortunately, I have a small gas generator so that’s how I power but a lot of people here in the area... don’t have the generators," said Roberto Escalante who lives in the outage area.
Escalante says he's hoping for a speedy restoration.
"In the past, for a storm that is less powerful, we lost power for like two or three days and now I can’t imagine with six to nine poles down. Hopefully, it doesn’t take that long," said Escalante.
DTE workers say more wet weather is expected Thursday night that could also impact restoration timelines.
