700 still without power in Washtenaw County as storm recovery continues

By John Counts Crime and courts reporter

Posted on Wed, Oct 31, 2012 : 8:46 a.m.

The high winds related to Hurricane Sandy that blew through southeastern Michigan may have died down, but many people across the region -- including 700 in Washtenaw County -- were still without power Wednesday morning.

John Austerberry, of DTE Energy, said by the end of the day power should be restored to about 90 percent of the 120,000 customers who were affected in the region after the storm. As of Wednesday morning, 80,000 customers already had their power back on, he said.

The majority of the power outages are in St. Clair County, 10,000; Wayne County, 4,000; Oakland County, 6,000 and Macomb County, 2,000.

On Tuesday, approximately 10,000 people were out of power in Washtenaw County. By Wednesday morning, that number was reduced to 700.

The DTE outage map shows outages scattered throughout the county with the highest concentrations in Scio and Ann Arbor townships.

In a news release, DTE said while it expects to get 90 percent of the power turned back on by midnight, it will take several days before every customer affected by the storm is back in service. Strong winds, with gusts reaching 50 miles per hour, caused more than 500 power lines to come down, the release said.