Over 3,000 Oakland County customers without power early Thursday

Over 3,000 DTE customers were without power in Oakland County, Michigan, early Thursday.

The DTE outage map showed the majority of those without power were in two areas. One was near Telegraph Road and Square Lake Road. The larger area of outages was near Telegraph and M-59. Scattered, smaller outages were reported elsewhere in Metro Detroit.

Power outages and food safety

If you do lose power to a refrigerator or freezer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says to keep the doors closed on those appliances. A fully stocked refrigerator can stay cold for about four hours; if the power outage lasts longer, then transfer perishable foods into a cooler stocked with ice. A freezer will keep its temperature for 24 hours if half full, or 48 hours if full. 

Power outages and SNAP benefits

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says families who purchased food with SNAP assistance, but lost electricity for at least four hours due to a power outage, may be eligible to receive some of their money back.

Those impacted must contact their local MDHHS office, apply within 10 days of the outage, detail what they lost, including the dollar amount, and provide proof of power loss to receive new funds.