Heavy winds cause scattered power outages in Washtenaw County; flood advisory issued
Storms knocked out power to about 5,000 customers in Washtenaw County today, with power restored to 2,000 of those as of 3 p.m., according to DTE Energy.
In Ann Arbor, power had been restored to 700 of 1,000 customers by 3 p.m., with crews still working.
The outages interrupted scheduled surgeries and closed clinics at University of Michigan Health System offices in northeast Ann Arbor.
Offices at Domino's Farms, 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, and the Health Center at East Ann Arbor, 4260 Plymouth Road, were affected, health system officials said at about 11 a.m. today.
Offices for plastic surgery services, a post-operative clinic, sports medicine and research are closed. Offices for family medicine, allergies and dermatology are running on generators but could be closed later today.
Patients with appointments will be notified of closures by phone, officials said.
The outages primarily are along Michigan Avenue on the eastern side of the county and along the southern border of the county, a DTE spokesman said.
DTE estimated that power would be restored to all customers by later today or overnight, as long as the weather does not cause additional power outages. Overall, about 12,000 customers are without power in the entire DTE service area.
Click here to see a map of your coverage area and check on power outages by ZIP code.
Shortly before 7 a.m. today, the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for Washtenaw, Livingston, Lenawee and Wayne counties.
The weather service said runoff from excessive rainfall could cause minor flooding in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Manchester and Milan.
Flooding is most likely to occur in small creeks and streams, as well as on streets and highways, underpasses, drainage areas and low-lying spots.
Ann Arbor saw about 1.88 inches of rain fall in the last 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.
For the current weather forecast, go to the AnnArbor.com weather page.
Comments
Kim
Wed, May 11, 2011 : 10:27 p.m.
This utility failure was majorly disruptive in my life, since I work at Dominos Farms for a U of M clinic. This U of M clinic decided to make us take this day as unpaid, or use up our own vacation time. Through no fault of our own, because of a power outage, we were sent home. We then had our paychecks decrease or our hard-earned vacation time taken away from us. We are very unhappy about this, and the U of M has a policy regarding Major Power Outages. It says all employees are entitled to two days of pay in the case of severe weather or power outages. Well, all of the U of M employees that were scheduled to work at Dominos Farms or East Ann Arbor health center were told that they had to take the day unpaid or use our precious vacation time. Many of us drove into work, with gas prices very high, and were sent home. Some of us paid day care expenses for the full day. We were reluctantly sent home. U of M did not hold true to their own policy, and many of us are upset. We are not unionized, so we have no voice. This is the only way I could think of to try and let people know the unfairness of this situation and what is happening at the U of M. They are supposed to be such a great employer, but they let us all down. Thanks.