More than 168,000 people without power, dozens of trees down in Southeast Michigan after storms

Hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents are without power and dozens of trees are down on Saturday after severe storms and strong winds rolled through the state Friday evening. 

As of 12:10 a.m. Sunday, over 168,000 DTE Energy customers are without power, the company's outage map said. More than 99,000 residents in Wayne County do not have service, with 12,000-plus outages reported in Macomb County, 14,000-plus in Monroe County and 25,000-plus in Oakland County, according to PowerOutage.us.

DTE said Saturday night that it had restored power to nearly 60% of its customers who lost service due to the severe weather.

"More than 500 DTE personnel worked throughout the night and will continue working to restore power for customers as quickly and safely as possible," the company said. 

Hundreds of crew members from 12 states and Canada were on their way to Michigan Saturday afternoon to help speed up restoration, according to DTE.

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield said the severe weather caused "significant damage" in some areas of the city, especially on the west side.

"I have instructed several city departments to provide response and relief efforts to address immediate safety concerns and to ensure our most vulnerable residents are cared for," Sheffield said in a written statement.

She added that crews were working on Saturday to address around 30 downed trees that were reportedly blocking streets, and Detroit Public Works employees were partnering with DTE to repair impacted traffic signals.

The Joseph Walker Williams Center was open until 5 p.m. as "walk-in respite," according to Sheffield.

In Dearborn, there were more than 80 downed trees and large branches, along with five water main breaks on Saturday morning, according to Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. Around 15 of the trees fell onto homes and/or vehicles.

Hammoud said Dearborn residents were able stop by the parking lot between the police station and the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center on Saturday afternoon to pick up bottled water and speak with DTE representatives about the outages and service-related questions. 

Dearborn emergency personnel were handing out free dry ice outside the performing arts center to residents in need on Saturday evening, officials said.

The Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak is closed Saturday due to power outages caused by storms, officials with the site said. The outages are impacting several areas of the facility. Trees and large branches were also down in the Wayne County community.

Warren Mayor Lori Stone said there were roughly 60 downed power lines in the city on Saturday afternoon. Officials urge residents to stay at least 25 feet away from downed lines and always assume they are energized.

Across the state, Consumers Energy is reporting more than 68,000 customers are without power, as of 12:10 a.m. Sunday, with many of the outages concentrated in southern Michigan, including Jackson, Hillsdale, Calhoun and Lenawee counties. 

In total, more than 409,000 Michiganders were without power Friday evening, with a majority of those outages reported in southern Michigan. 

Storm damage reports spread from central Illinois into southeast Michigan Friday night. 

Power loss and refrigerators

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.