Tens of thousands of customers remain without power after tornadoes tore through Michigan

By Joe Sutton and Hollie Silverman, CNN

Thousands of customers are still without power after three tornadoes tore through Michigan over the weekend, leaving damage, debris and power outages across the Detroit area.

As of Monday morning, nearly 87,000 customers in remain without power in the state, according to Poweroutage.us. At the peak of the outage, more than 150,000 customers were affected.

The severe weather resulted in “significant damage to the electric infrastructure,” utility DTE said on its website.

“DTE teams are working around the clock to restore power after heavy rain and tornadoes ripped through southeast Michigan on Saturday,” the utility said.

Crews were assessing damage and making repairs after the storm brought down more than 1,200 wires, according to DTE.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Detroit office confirmed at least three EF-1 tornadoes hit the area on Saturday in White Lake, Clayton Township and the city Armada, leaving damage and debris in their wake. There were no reported injuries, police told CNN.

Video of damage near Armada from CNN affiliate WEYI immediately after the storm showed a home collapsed and another house with wood debris littering the yard.

‘Unlike anything we had ever seen’

On Sunday, the affiliate spoke with Clayton Township resident Brian Barrie as he cleaning up damage in his community.

“It just wasn’t natural, and so it was unlike anything we had ever seen before,” Barrie told WEYI.

Before the storm hit, Barrie had planned to go to a soccer game with his son but then saw the approaching storm, the affiliate reported.

“I noticed all sorts of debris swirling up in the air. Pieces of houses and trees, and what not so we knew that was bad, and we made a beeline for the basement,” Barrie told WEYI.

Barrie saw widespread damage, debris and fallen branches after the storm passed, with his neighbors suffering significant damage to their properties, the affiliate reported.

“Their damage was much worse than ours,” Barrie told the affiliate. “But then again, I’m thankful that everyone came through this alright because I think the outcome could’ve been much worse.”

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