CLARKSTON, Mich. – Power was restored after at least a hundred homes were without electricity in Clarkston for nearly three days. Local 4 sat down with one frustrated couple on Sunday night.
On Christmas Day, the Standard family had their four grandchildren over to their home. The Christmas tree was shining bright until the entire home went dark on Friday afternoon.
They weren’t alone.
Lolita Standard said the area impacted on DTE’s outage map started out small, then it grew. The online map said the reason for the outage was due to ice on the lines and equipment.
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When the outage began, Standard said she received routine texts every few hours from DTE saying the power would be restored at a certain time. Whenever that time rolled around, the power was never restored.
The Standards said they ran the generator multiple times and went through six cans of propane in 48 hours. Most of the Christmas dinner they made for their grandchildren was spoiled and they lost hundreds of dollars.
“I am disappointed, but then I am a little aggravated,” Standard said. “It just seems like even if they could not have stopped it, they could have given us notice before, for it to be something that we could have been prepared for. As it was, we were in the dark, pulling out the generator.”
Standard said she tried calling DTE and reaching out multiple times, but she only seems to be able to get limited information through the app.
“DTE crews have been working around the clock to restore power in the Clarkston area following Friday’s ice storm,” DTE said in a statement to Local 4. “The storm caused extensive damage, and over the past 48 hours, falling trees and branches have repeatedly impacted our equipment. In many cases, just as repairs were completed in one area, new damage occurred elsewhere. Our crews also faced unexpected challenges, including replacing an electric pole that was struck by a vehicle during restoration efforts. We understand how difficult it is to be without power, and we want to assure our customers that DTE crews and contractors are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service.”