Detroiters frustrated as neighborhoods are without power for days following winter storm
(CBS DETROIT) – There are thousands of people in this deep freeze waiting for their power to come back on, and some on the city's west side have been in the dark since Friday when the winter storm rolled through Metro Detroit.
That storm uprooted a tree in the area of Curtis and Mark Twain Streets, bringing down power lines in Richard Nixon's backyard.
"I heard a big crackling. It fell on the lady's house next door and took all the wires with it," Nixon said.
It was so cold inside Nixon's home Monday morning you could see his breath when speaking with him.
A portable heater is the only thing he has to stay warm, but it can only do so much.
"It lasts about four hours, just enough. You have to stay up under it. And then after that, you know, you're basically back into the cold," Nixon said.
He couldn't take it anymore and slept Sunday night at a motel.
But others don't have that luxury, like Danita Werts, who has been sleeping with four layers of clothes and four pairs of socks.
"I kept kind of warm. Yesterday, up under like five blankets. I just stayed up under the blankets, but when I got up out of it to use the restroom. It was cold," Werts said.
Without a car and a bad foot, Werts can't visit a warming center and is relying on the kindness of neighbors to protect her from the brutal weather.
"They told me they would have it on as soon as possible. They didn't have a time right now," Werts said regarding her call to DTE Energy on Friday.
Over the weekend, a DTE spokesperson said they brought in an additional 400 linemen from out of state, joining the more than 1,500 workers out in the field right now.
On Monday, DTE provided this statement to CBS News Detroit:
"Extreme winter weather impacted the state over the weekend, causing power outages. As of 2 p.m., DTE's Storm Response Team restored power to 98% of customers impacted by the storm.
We know how hard it is to be without power, particularly in frigid temperatures. The DTE Storm Response Team is working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service for every customer impacted by this winter storm."
Nixon isn't satisfied and is asking this from leaders at DTE Energy.
"I wish you could get it together. I do. I truly do," Nixon said.