DETROIT -- Electricity has been restored after a power outage closed a border crossing and led to other problems on Detroit's east side Tuesday afternoon.

The Detroit-Windsor tunnel was closed to traffic because of the outage, Local 4 reported. The 36th District Court was also closed, according to the station's reports.

A DTE Energy substation fire in the area of Conner and Jefferson Avenue led to the outages just before noon, the station reported. DTE Energy representative Len Singer said the substation affects electrical distribution.

DTE Energy officials were working to determine how many customers were affected, but it is believed about 20,000 residential and commercial customers were without power, Local 4 reported.

"We are working actively on the repair," said Singer, just after noon.

Other outages included downtown high-rise structures such as Cadillac Tower, where employees were forced to exit the building through stairwells.

"Our legs were so tired," said an unidentified woman, who traveled down dozens of flights of stairs.

Jessica Knight, who works on the 40th floor with the Detroit Recreation Department, added, "Coming down was hard."

Knight said she had to "keep moving" or "get trampled" in the stairwell.

"People were panicking, trying to get out because we didn't know what was going on," said Knight.

Lawrence Hemingway, who also works with the Detroit Recreation Department, said he decided to head out for lunch while waiting for the power to be restored. He said some of his co-workers chose to stay upstairs and work by daylight.

There were pockets in the downtown Detroit and east side area that were not affected, including Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Hall, Local 4 reported.

Detroit Public Schools were not affected by the power outage, Local 4 reported.

Motorists were urged to use caution at intersections with traffic light outages.

Local 4 initially reported the Alpha Manor nursing home on East Grand Boulevard was forced to evacuate, but confirmed the evacuation did not occur. A small fire reported from a generator prompted concerns, but was extinguished, Local 4 reported.