DETROIT – DTE Energy officials said all residents affected by wind-related power outages in Metro Detroit are expected to have power restored by the end of Friday.
Thousands of residents were forced to spend Friday in the bitter cold as crews worked to get the lights and heat back on amid the blustering winds.
Southfield was one of the areas hit hardest by the wind storm. The neighborhood in Southfield off of Evergreen has several houses without power, but DTE crews are taking on extra shifts to restore power.
The windy weather led to tens of thousands of outages, and it's a cold day to be without power.
"We are bundled up, so I have two guys in here with me right now, and we're just waiting it out," resident Tamora Collier said.
Collier said the power in her Southfield neighborhodd went out in the middle of the night.
"It was pretty bad," Collier said. "Power went out early in the morning. This is a group home, so of course we are in here keeping warm."
After a few hours without power, DTE crews showed up in force and the lights came back on.
"We know how hard it is to not have your power, especially with the cold weather," DTE spokesperson Russel Pogats said. "We have resources out working."
The crews are scattered across Metro Detroit, and DTE set up their new mobile command unit in Dearborn, another area hit hard by the wind.
"This is the first time it's being deployed in active use," Pogats said.
It saves the linemen time and helps get the power back faster in areas with a high number of outages.
"This provides a resource right here at ground zero where the customers have been impacted," Pogats said. "It just puts all the right pieces and tools right at the fingertips of these folks."