DETROIT – DTE crews were testing more than a mile of cable Wednesday after two cable failures that knocked customers offline, the utility said, as residents coped with repeated outages and extreme heat.
Crews worked both above and below ground, testing cable section by section to locate the damage and make repairs, DTE’s operations director, Jerry Tullio, said. “It can be quite complex and laborious,” he said.
“The situation has been dire two weeks in a row, Fourth of July weekend, now this weekend, especially with the stifling heat,” said Irvin Posey, a northwest Detroit resident whose home on Sussex Street had power while neighbors did not.
Cynthia Hepburn, who lives across the street, said she had been without power since Tuesday (July 14) night.
“I’m in here suffering, you know, suffering,” said Hepburn. “And now here we are again.”
Hepburn said the earlier July 4th outage caused damage to appliances when the power came back on.
“It started with brownouts. I lost my washing machine, my dryer, and my dishwasher,” she said.
DTE said two cables that feed a nearby substation failed, initially knocking about 7,800 customers offline.
About 5,300 customers were still without power late Wednesday afternoon, the utility said.
The company said crews have been working since the outage began and are testing the cable, piece by piece, to identify and repair the damaged equipment.
Officials said they are checking on vulnerable customers and installing 15 utility-sized generators to restore electricity and air conditioning where possible.
“People faithfully pay their bills, and they expect service,” Hepburn said. “I understand that things can happen, but this is too much.”
DTE says they’re checking on their most vulnerable customers, providing water and ice to those who need it.
The Adams Butzel complex is operating as a cooling center while the utility says it hopes to have power restored by Wednesday night.