UPDATE: DTE Expects to Restore All Power Today

Update, 9:21 a.m. Monday: "We do expect to restore all power today," said DTE Energy spokesman John Austerberry.

That statement will come as good news to 1,045 homes and businesses still without power in Royal Oak, however, Austerberry warns there could be a few isolated areas that DTE may not get to today.

"Sometimes we run into pockets with complications," he said.

In Royal Oak, the largest area without power is in the Woodwardside Subdivision near 13 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue where 627 DTE customers have been without power since 8 p.m. Friday. Restoration time estimate is 11 p.m. tonight.

9:15 a.m. Sunday: DTE's outage map shows the number of customers in Royal Oak without power down to 1,429 as of Sunday morning.

DTE spokewoman Eileen Dixon had previously said power should be "back to normal" in the area by Saturday night, however new estimates show power being restored between Sunday and Monday night.

Areas without power include:

• 627 customers in the Woodwardside Subdivision near 13 Mile Road and Woodward have been without power since 8 p.m. Friday. Restoration estimate time is 11 p.m. Monday.
• 181 customers south of 11 Mile Road along Washington Avenue have been without power since 5 a.m. Thursday. Restoration estimate time is 11 p.m. Sunday.

5:50 a.m. Saturday: Power is coming back for many Royal Oak residents who have been without electricity since Wednesday's storm. According to DTE's power outage map, a large area east of Woodward Avenue between Catalpa Drive and Lincoln Avenue has been restored. Still, 3,302 customers remain without power including:

• 1552 customers affected between 12 and 14 Mile roads east of Main Street to Rochester Road. Restoration time is unavailable.
• 987 customers affected in the 12 Mile and Crooks roads area. Estimate for restoration is tonight by 11 p.m.
• 498 customers affected between Catalpa Drive and 12 Mile Road east of Woodward Avenue. Estimate for restoration is tonight by 11 p.m.

5:40 p.m. Friday: DTE's outage map shows the number of customers in Royal Oak without power now stands at 3,951 - up more than 900 from this morning.

Even as many Royal Oak homes have electricity restored, new DTE customers are losing power. Today 987 homes and businesses near 12 Mile and Crooks roads lost power and another 1552 customers between 13 Mile and 14 Mile roads along Main Street lost power.

"Ninety percent who've been affected will have power restored tonight. The majority of the remainder will be restored by Saturday night," said DTE spokesman Len Singer. However, Singer warned, there likely will be some individual exceptions.

Approximately 75,000 customers in southeast Michigan are still without power; 35,000 of those customers are in Oakland County.

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5:45 a.m. Friday: With the mercury expected to top 102 degrees today, there are still 3,014 homes and businesses without power in Royal Oak.

A large pocket east of Woodward Avenue from Lincoln Avenue to 12 Mile Road is out, as is a smaller area near 11 Mile and Campbell roads.

Due to the extreme, the City of Royal Oak has designated the Mahany/Meininger Senior Center and the Salter Community Center as cooling centers.

Anyone who needs a place to get out of the heat can come to the centers from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and relax in an air conditioned environment.

Royal Oak cooling centers are located at:

• : 3500 Marais Ave.
• : 1545 E Lincoln Ave.

7:30 p.m. Thursday: The number of DTE customers without power in Royal Oak is down to 4,699 since a brutal storm tore through southeast Michigan Wednesday evening.

"Branches are continuing to fall and take out lines," said DTE Energy's Eileen Dixon on Thursday evening. "We are still until things get back to normal."

The restoration estimate does not come as good news to those suffering through a power outage and a heat wave at the same time. The high temperature is expected to hit 102 degrees Friday.

Dixon said crews are working around the clock.

"It's very tedious work," she said. "At one point we had more than 1,000 power lines down."

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5:40 a.m. Thursday: DTE Energy's power outage map shows an area of 2300+ customers without power in the 48073 ZIP code and four other areas with outages in the 48067 ZIP code, including:

• 2308 customers affected between 12 and 13 Mile roads east of Crooks Road to Campbell Road. Restoration time is unavailable.
• 1043 customers affected between 11 and 12 Mile roads east of Campbell Road to Stephenson Highway with restoration time unavailable.
• 1015 customers affected between 11 Mile and Gardenia roads east of Curry Avenue to Campbell Road with restoration time unavailable.
• 561 customers affected between 11 Mile and Catalpa roads near Meininger Park. Restoration time is unavailable.
• 498 customers affected between Catalpa Drive and 12 Mile Road east of Woodward Avenue to the railroad tracks. Restoration time is unavailable.

>>Visit DTE's website for tips on how to stay safe during a power outage.

7:30 p.m. Wednesday: A severe thunderstorm whipped through Royal Oak on Wednesday evening, battering the area with powerful winds and hail and knocking out power to more than a thousand DTE Energy customers.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning in effect until 9:30 p.m. for southern Oakland County, as well as a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 10:00 p.m. for the area.

DTE's outage map showed 1,762 customers were without power as of 8:30 p.m. in Royal Oak.

Do you have hail or storm photos to share? E-mail Royal Oak Patch Editor Judy Davids at judy.davids@patch.com. Please include the photographer's name and the location of the photo.