Tornadoes and Power Outages Impact Metro Detroit

Severe weather struck Metro Detroit, leaving many communities in turmoil. The National Weather Service confirmed that three tornadoes touched down across Southeast Michigan, causing significant damage.

In Lincoln Park, Michigan, an EF-0 tornado uprooted trees and damaged areas near Fort Street. Winds reaching 70 mph struck around 4 p.m., damaging the park near Kennedy Memorial Rec and Senior Center. Surprisingly, the First Baptist Church nearby remained unscathed.

We were driving down, and we see these uprooted trees and we couldn’t believe it, said Julie Vasquez, a Lincoln Park native.

In Detroit, an EF-2 tornado caused extensive damage on Meldrum and Benson streets. Despite the destruction, the New Liberty Baptist Church only faced a power outage.

We were very amazed by the damage around us, but very little to our church building, explained Pastor Maurice Stimage, who has led the church for two decades.

The community has never seen such devastation, but church members plan to help those affected. Many local small businesses face challenges in recovering from the damage.

Brian Claka, DTE Energy Senior Vice President of Electric Operations, described the damage as among the most significant he has witnessed due to weather events. About 4,000 utility workers were engaged in restoring power on Saturday. Since Wednesday’s severe weather began, 450,000 customers experienced outages. As of 5:45 p.m. Saturday, 75,961 remained without power, according to DTE’s outage map.

DTE Energy urged caution while cleaning up and using generators. They advised waiting for power crews to ensure downed lines are safe.

Claka cautioned, Please, please do not put generators indoors. They should remain outdoors.

DTE aimed to restore power to 90% to 92% of customers by Saturday night.