FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – A senior living facility in Farmington Hills is just one of the many buildings without power in Southeast Michigan tonight after strong storms swept through the region last night. DTE says power may not be restored until late Monday night inside the building.
Residents inside American House in Farmington Hills on Middlebelt Road say they woke up this holiday unable to fully turn on the lights or adjust the thermostat. They say that’s just where their concerns start.
“If you can get us some air,” one woman told Local 4 as soon as the crew walked in the building’s front doors. “There’s people here on oxygen and CPAP machines.”
She’s one of several who tell Local 4 there’s no power inside.
Her biggest concern is centered on seniors who are being dressed by staff in the dark, little light in the memory care unit, and those who rely on a CPAP machine.
“CPAP machine and you have AFib? That’s a danger,” she said.
Local 4 is told this issue started on Friday night.
“Constant calls,” one close family member of a resident said. “Phone was getting blown up saying that they were hot and nobody was coming into their room. They don’t know what’s going on.”
They asked us not to share their identity for safety reasons.
On Friday, as storms surged across the area, their phone started buzzing. They say the calls continued in the morning, so they went to check things out.
“We were all a little frustrated, assuming that a place that has a bunch of elderly people, should definitely have some kind of backup in case this happens in the future,” the family member said.
On Saturday, Local 4 was able to speak to a maintenance person.
“I see some stuff is on, so do we have a generator on? Is there a generator running?” Local 4 asked.
He said he does have generators running, but wouldn’t say more.
Residents, and family members of residents inside, say it’s not cutting it.
“Trying to take care of the elderly, especially your loved ones, and it’s frustrating because there is nothing you can really do about it,” one resident said.
“They can’t charge their phone, so they can’t call 911,” another woman said.
“I’ve called DTE to ask if they can give us a more specific timeline and they keep saying this Monday. What would you like to see happen?” Local 4 asked the close family member of a resident.
“Someone get out there really fast and in the future, I would like to see this place have generators, so that it doesn’t happen again,” they said.
“Severe weather, including winds in excess of 60 mph, moved across Michigan Friday evening, causing widespread power outages,” DTE said. “Our Storm Response Team restored power to one-third of affected customers overnight and expects to have 60% of customers restored by the end of the day. Hundreds of out of state and Canadian crews are on their way to help speed restoration. Your safety is our number one priority. Please stay at least 25 feet away from downed wires and anything those wires touch. Report any outages or downed wires.”