Winds Bring Down Trees, Knock Out Power For Thousands
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - Blustery winds are swinging traffic lights and bringing down tree limbs across metro Detroit -- and putting thousands of residents in the dark.
DTE Energy is constantly updating its power outage map to show residents where to expect the worst. Click here to check the map.
A high wind advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. Monday for all of Metro Detroit. Accu-Weather says winds will be in the 20-30 mph range, with gusts to near 50 mph at times.
Residents are reporting large trees downed across the region, with a tree toppled on a home near Canton, and a large tree blown down across Lahser Road. Lahser is closed between 8 and 9 Mile Roads. A large branch is also down along Maple Road near John R.
Overall, an estimated 52,000 homes and businesses lost power, 2,400 of them in Van Buren Township. Additional outages were reported near 6 Mile and Evergreen in Detroit,
Near the intersection of 6 Mile Road and Ridge, power was interrupted at around 2 p.m. when a backyard tree fell and brought down power lines. Just off 6 Mile on Ridge an electrical pole cracked in half.
Resident Rod Neely heard the commotion just before his home lost power.
"It sounded like the wind, a bunch of trees falling and breaking ... heard it crack, heard the whole thing crack, then started hearing the buzzing sound of the electricity," Neely said.
Additional outages were reported near Woodward and I-696 in Royal Oak, on the east side in Utica and Shelby Township, and on the west side in Ypsilanti.
The winds are expected to subside Monday evening. Check the CBS Detroit weather page for forecast details.
In the meantime, MDOT has postponed work on Monday on the Gateway Project near the Ambassador Bridge because of the high winds. Work was expected to resume on Tuesday.
