Lights back on for some in Michigan, others still in the dark

DETROIT - It could take several more days before electrical service is back on for tens of thousands of Michigan homes and businesses, after a weekend storm that generated winds of 75 mph, blacked out 452,000 residences and businesses and claimed the life of a suburban Detroit man.

Detroit-based DTE Energy Co. said that 125,000 of its 2.1 million customers were still powerless Sunday night, down from 375,000 hit by Friday night's storm. Full restoration probably will take until Tuesday or Wednesday, the company said.

Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp. said about 7,000 customers remained without power Sunday afternoon, down from 77,000 affected. It said most would have power back Sunday night but some might have to wait until midday Monday.

In Warren, a 42-year-old man died after apparently touching a downed power line in his yard, Mayor Jim Fouts told the Detroit Free Press. It happened Friday night in the Detroit suburb.

A Walgreens pharmacy in Oak Park was able to operate by relying on backup power.

"We're open because the generators are running now, but they also shut down for a while until they came back on," assistant store manager Jason Einkelmeyer told The Detroit News. "We've got customers in the store, but we've had to close a bit earlier because we're a 24-hour store."

In Westland, Happy's Pizza kept its power and got a surge of business from those without power.

"It's been great for business," said manager Evan Sirena. "We made $600 more this past Friday than we do on an average Friday. And Saturday business was pretty good, too. People were grateful we were open."