Some Monroe County residents are still without power since Friday’s storm. According to the DTE outage map, 129 customers are still without power as of Wednesday, July 8, largely due to tree and wind damage.
“I know DTE was pulling long nights working as hard as they could, but it was disheartening to see all my neighbors regain power days before we did,” said Maybee resident Leah Matczak. Her power wasn’t restored until noon on Wednesday.
According to Nicole Bonneville with DTE corporate communications, the company is not able to give a solid date/time for the completion of power restoration for the county as a whole.
The storm hit on July 3 at approximately 5:30 p.m., according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. It caused damage and widespread power outages across the county. Strong winds, downed trees, and tree limbs snapped electric power lines, causing loss of primary utility power, including to the Monroe County Central Dispatch building.
During that time, the Monroe County Dispatch Center was managing diverted calls coming from Hillsdale and Lenawee counties. Central Dispatch suffered a mechanical failure, which resulted in the loss of radio and phone services, according to the sheriff’s office. Dispatchers transitioned to portable radios and maintained communication with first responders in the field.
At 7:40 p.m., the Monroe County Incident Command Vehicle was deployed as a backup central dispatch center for the county. At 7:50 p.m., 911 services and alternate non-emergency lines were fully operational from the incident command vehicle.
“This incident demonstrated the importance of redundant communications facilities and equipment including of the county’s preparedness in ensuring backup systems primary system failures,” said the sheriff’s office in a release.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County residents still waiting for power
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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By Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News | USA TODAY Network
