The sirens blared, winds howled, lightning lit the sky and rains blanketed the area. If the storms awoke you early this morning, that's the environment that existed just beyond your walls. High winds caused by a suspected tornado caused damage to several residences near Manchester, but also knocked down trees, branches and power lines throughout the region.
DTE Energy reports there were 30,op of it's customers in the southeast Michigan service region without electricity went dark in the storms. Roughly 4,900 of those were in Washtenaw County. Spokesperson Randi Berris says most should have power restored by the end of the day, with small pockets possibly taking into tomorrow for full restoration. The outages have put many of the area's traffic lights completely out of order or on flashing red.
The Washtenaw County Road Commission spent its morning clearing trees and debris from area roadways and monitoring areas of flooding and standing water. As of 9:40 am, Director of Operations Jim Harmon says most of the work is complete. Flooding in Scio Township still has Liberty Road closed between Honey Run Drive and Stags Leap Lane. In Webster Township, Mast Road between North Territorial and Walsh Roads is closed until further notice for minor structural repairs. That road is expected to reopen later today.
