Metro Detroit mother, daughter battle power outage for days

By TERELL BAILEY

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    ECORSE, Michigan (WWJ) — As of Monday night, thousands of Michigan residents remain powerless.

The power outages are a headache for many. One Ecorse mother CBS News Detroit spoke with tells us, her apartment is reaching below-freezing temperatures inside.

“My thermostat says it’s 38 degrees and I have to sleep under four blankets, me and her,” Paris Fields said.

The storm from last week has left lasting impacts in the Metro Detroit area. Five days and no powerhas left residents like Fields hopeless.

“It’s stressful having a kid in this situation,” she said.

With a lack of access to electricity, Fields and her daughter spend their afternoons in a warming center. The two use the center as a way to stay warm and connected with the rest of the world.

“All we really have is our devices to keep us occupied and it’s stressful. I don’t want that life for her to just be in bed, who wants to be in bed under the covers,” she said.

DTE crews are scattered all throughout the area, and the energy company wants everyone to know they’re working to get power back on.

“The ice sure puts quite a burden on all these trees around our area and around our lines and outside of our right of way. We’re going to continue looking for ways to make the system more resilient,” Ryan Stone with DTE said.

Fields said her estimated power restoration is set for Tuesday, but with cold temperatures expected this week, she believes she and her daughter will be without power for weeks.

She now hopes as DTE continues working on outages, the company considers those who aren’t as fortunate as others.

“Not everyone has family or help or a vehicle to charge your devices and keep warm for at least a minute,” Fields said.

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