Hide inside or skip town? Those without power consider their options
- Related coverage: Extreme weather around Ann Arbor: How are you coping with storms, power outages, record temps?
- Related coverage: Ann Arbor cancels Rec & Ed activities due to extreme heat
In northwest Ann Arbor between Miller Avenue, North Maple Road, Dexter Avenue and M-14, the sound of generators whirring broke through the sultry, humid morning Friday.
A generator is hooked up to a cable box on a telephone pole Friday morning on the corner of Hollywood and Archwood drives in Ann Arbor.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
If they’re like Charo Ledon, of Ann Arbor, they were holed up inside enjoying the remains of their cool air.
“I have no idea when (the power) is coming back on,” Ledon said. “I try not to open my refrigerator too much, or open the door.”
Sitting indoors in her bathing suit listening to NPR on a small radio, Ledon said she missed the comforts of electricity, but was doing just fine.
Though Ledon said she typically tries to not run her air conditioner during the summer, the past week of 90-degree temperatures was too hot to live without it. The cool air was still present Friday morning in her home on the corner of Hollywood and Archwood drives because all of her windows were tightly shut.
About 691 DTE Energy customers in Ledon's neighborhood were affected by the storm-related outage. Ledon has been without power since Thursday morning.
Ledon grew up in Cuba, and moved to Ann Arbor in 1974. As a child, she said week-long blackouts were common - and she said grew to understand that electricity was something that she couldn’t take for granted.
“I sort of like it,” Ledon said. “People go outside and talk with their neighbors.”
Ledon said she left her home Thursday to find an Internet hotspot because without power, she has no way to get online.
Across the street from Ledon’s home, a generator sat next to the utility pole to power a Comcast cable box.
Patrick Paterno, spokesman for Comcast, said it was standard practice to place generators in neighborhoods during power outages to serve customers that have personal generators at home to run some of their basic appliances.
However, with utility work going on “around-the-clock,” Paterno said there may be disruptions in Comcast service to areas that have power.
“Brownouts are possible and are out of our control,” Paterno said.
Crystal Conway, owner of Lady MacGyver landscaping company, pulls out weeds and dead plants at Ann Arbor resident Eve Fortson's home on Maple Ridge Street.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Fortson said she doesn’t run the air conditioning in her home even when she does have power. Born and raised in the south, she said she was used to conditions even hotter and more humid than the recent Ann Arbor weather.
As she’s retired and living alone, Fortson said her neighbor made sure to check on her during the outage. In her West Park neighborhood, about 730 DTE customers were affected.
Most of her neighbors had gone to work or left town for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Fortson said. Fortson was one of the only people outdoors in her neighborhood Friday morning, surveying a crew from Lady MacGyver landscaping company working in the front of her home.
Crystal Conway, company owner, said she she recently had heat sickness while out on the job. Working outdoors in the hot weather has forced Conway to adjust her hours to finish before the worst heat of the day hits after noon.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
townie54
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 7:34 p.m.
no I'll skip town in a few days when the art fair comes here
Madeleine Borthwick
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 5:59 p.m.
wish that gettin' out of town was an option, alas we don't have the $$$ for that..
roadsidedinerlover
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 2:04 p.m.
To the people swimming at Veterans....please do not go into stores in your bathing suits. We don't want to see it!! (young or old) Manners people!
jns131
Sun, Jul 8, 2012 : 12:23 p.m.
Remember that incident last year with that swim suit lady? Wal Mart has its policies and will not admit anyone without a shirt and shoes and yes, shorts.
Madeleine Borthwick
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 6:03 p.m.
yeah, for pete's sake put some CLOTHES on.
Tru2Blu76
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 7:54 a.m.
"However, with utility work going on "around-the-clock," Paterno said there may be disruptions in Comcast service to areas that have power." == Heck, it's not all that uncommon for Comcast service to be interrupted (often, it's for advertising - which is something they originally promised not to have on their cable service, as I recall). Since companies GET money from advertisers to begin with, why aren't the monthly hours of advertisement interruptions rebated to customers? Basically, cable companies get paid once by advertisers and again by their subscribers (aka, victims).
jns131
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 12:24 p.m.
I could not agree more. This is why we went with a dish. Never lost power and if we did? Came back on rather quickly.
jns131
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 3:02 a.m.
If I knew about this impending heat wave? I would be in Petosky by the beach. It is 80 there right now. Sigh, maybe being north might not be a bad idea.
Ann English
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 8:35 p.m.
Putting Maple Ridge Street and West Park together makes me wonder if the street is the one I remember near Arborview Street as "Mapleridge". No map of the area is provided.
linuxtuxguy
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 8:29 p.m.
More proofreading needed. "As a child, she said week-long blackouts were common - and she said grew to understand that electricity..."
julieswhimsies
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 7:41 p.m.
Back in the day, when I was growing up in Indiana, we had no air conditioning. As a matter of fact we didn't have it installed her until 20 years ago. If you have fans, use them...the more the better. If you only have one fan, take it with you wherever you will be in your house. Sleep downstairs. Stay hydrated. Take a good book and sit in the shade with a huge container of lemonade. Keep your dogs inside. Even short-haired dogs cannot tolerate this heat. My Malamute goes outside only to TCB....and, in this heat, it takes only about 3 minutes. Make sure they have constant access to water. I drop ice cubes in my dogs bowl. But most importantly, check in on the elders in your neighborhood. They are very vulnerable to heat stroke. They won't ask you for help. You need to offer it. If you know others in your neighborhood without air conditioning...especially those with infants-five year olds, invite them over. If we're all stuck indoors, make the most of it. Might as well have neighbors without air conditioning over.
julieswhimsies
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 10:24 p.m.
@Seldon We have power. I feel for those who do not. Never make assumptions.
a2citizen
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 8:13 p.m.
seldon, just spin the blades really fast with your hands.
seldon
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 8:08 p.m.
If you don't have power, the fans won't work either. You do understand this, right?
Doug
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 7:41 p.m.
We're still without power and my neighbor called to ask if I had any extra fans. Duh! I said yes but Idon't have an extension cord that will reach to the next community! And she votes, too!
julieswhimsies
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 7:47 p.m.
Cougars are usually not interested in older women. They are interested in young men FYI.
Bertha Venation
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 7:14 p.m.
Neighbors are away, so I can lay in the buff in the back yard with the sprinkler running. Now, if I can only find a nice young man to check in on this sweet old lady.
Madeleine Borthwick
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 6 p.m.
you go Bertha!!! HOOOOOOOO-WEE!
arborani
Sat, Jul 7, 2012 : 1:18 p.m.
You go, girl.
julieswhimsies
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 8:03 p.m.
Oh come ON, A2.com! You delete my with a person, when I am offering aid?! Are you kidding me? When I offered to teach anyone in the community how to swim, my info was give to an older woman by A2.com. Too bad she never took advantage of my invitation.
RunsWithScissors
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 7:26 p.m.
This might explain "cougar" sightings in Ann Arbor.