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WInd knocked down a dead tree outside this restored Woodbridge beauty Wednesday, crushing an unoccupied Volkswagen Golf GTI.
(Twitter photo by Brian Ambrozy)
Update: Thursday, 7:55 a.m. -- DTE Energy is calling it the largest weather event in its history with more than 1 million utility customers losing power, the Detroit Free Press reports. This morning, more than 670,000 DTE Energy customers, and about 187,000 Consumers Energy customers, were without without electricity.
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Reports From Wednesday
Hold onto your whatever and watch for flying debris or falling limbs. It's blowing mightily Wednesday.
The National Weather Service measures 61 mph winds at Detroit City Airport and Troy, and 68 mph at Detroit Metro Airport.
Day-long gusts knocked out power to more than 90,000 Metro Detroit customers, The Detroit News reports:
The DTE Outage Map shows thousands of power outages in every corner of Southeast Michigan; 90,000 so far Wednesday, and that number is heading north, said spokeswoman Stephanie Beres. Crews are working 16-hour shifts. . . .
"It's a fluid situation," Beres said, and there was no estimate available on when power will be restored.
WXYZ graphic
Ominously, the utility's outage map was offline for a few midday hours, presumably due to heavy traffic, but is back.
Regionally, electricity losses affect at least 230,000 Southeast Michigan customers, DTE Energy says. Some traffic signals are dark, dangling or on the ground.
A high wind warning from the National Weather Service runs until 7 p.m.. for all counties in Southeast Michigan.
► Related post: How to Report Lost Power or Fallen Trees in Detroit
Naturally, local social media feeds resemble meteorological field reports as tales of the gales are posted. These are among tweets:
With the potential threats to health and safety the State Emergency Operations Center has been activated to monitor the weather situation. pic.twitter.com/zIQ7RmhKGR
— MSP Metro Detroit (@mspmetrodet) March 9, 2017
Tree crushes car - "just one of those things" - https://t.co/rekScREjQI #Detroit
— MLive Detroit (@MLiveDetroit) March 8, 2017
Brush fire in Detroit. No firefighters available to respond because of wind-swept fires across the city. pic.twitter.com/Bz3GlWrK93
— Motor City Muckraker (@MCmuckraker) March 8, 2017
Lack of a working DTE Outage Map is disconcerting https://t.co/0FwkerrvQL
— James David Dickson (@downi94) March 8, 2017
A toppled tree on W. Grand Blvd in Detroit as wind continues sweeping across metro Detroit. pic.twitter.com/5mqWqoGfJR
— Motor City Muckraker (@MCmuckraker) March 8, 2017
Be careful out there, y'all, especially on Detroit streets where there's broken glass flying. https://t.co/Ge1sDriB8v
— Stephanie Steinberg (@Steph_Steinberg) March 8, 2017
The dangerous winds will hold through early evening before weakening. #miwx pic.twitter.com/Tg8aTZjuyl
— NWS Detroit (@NWSDetroit) March 8, 2017
Traffic lights are out for miles on Mack. Drive carefully. Traffic lights are falling.
— Motor City Muckraker (@MCmuckraker) March 8, 2017
Visiting @Deloitte on the 39th floor of the RenCen in a 50mph wind. We're rocking like a small boat on a Great Lake. cc @MarkDavidoff
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) March 8, 2017
Windy pic.twitter.com/f5PQGU1B2K
— Kirk Pinho (@kirkpinhoCDB) March 8, 2017
Due to high winds, you may experience intermittent or complete loss of signal on all 4 of our channels. pic.twitter.com/Me6QVnJm0Z
— Detroit Public TV (@detroitpublictv) March 8, 2017
. . .You also may experience partial or complete loss of patio furniture, lawn ornaments, trash bins, awnings, siding, shutters & loose pets https://t.co/y2akZg9uU8
— Alan Stamm (@APStamm) March 8, 2017
Here's a live wind map for those of you getting buffeted in #Detroit and #Chicago today. https://t.co/YMRDlDrL3s
— Rebecca Powers (@beckword) March 8, 2017
.@APStamm Indeed. This #wind has turned curbside recycling bins into tumbleweeds today.
— Rebecca Powers (@beckword) March 8, 2017
