Detroit working to restore power after system failure
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...-outage-prompts-evacuations-detroit/19777159/
Detroit — Power is slowly being restored Tuesday afternoon after a widespread outage caused evacuations of buildings throughout the downtown, including Joe Louis Arena, Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, the Detroit Institute of Arts and some buildings at Wayne State University.
According to Detroit Press Office shortly before noon: "The city's public lighting grid suffered a major cable failure that has caused the entire grid to lose power at approximately 10:30 this morning. The outage is affecting all customers on the PLD grid. We have isolated the issue and are working to restore power as soon as possible."
"The city's Public Lighting Department is working closely with DTE during this process."
DTE Energy Co. spokesman Scott Simons said "it looks like the entire Detroit Public Lighting system is down. Affecting about 100 buildings, places like The Joe, Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, fire stations, schools. We were notified about 10:30 a.m. We're working with them to help resolve the situation. We'll help investigate the problem and make repairs. It's too early yet to determine what has caused the shutdown."
Detroit Public Lighting system couldn't be reached for immediate comment.
DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital was running on partial power while Children's Hospital of Michigan and DMC Sinai Grace confirmed they still had power. Wayne County Jail was running on backup power and had no issues.
"DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital informed patients, families, clinical staff and non-clinical employees that it had experienced two power outages caused by outdated public lighting department equipment," spokeswoman Sarah Collica said. "DRH leadership emphasized the fact that all patients are safe and being well-cared for. All emergency power systems are working effectively. Detroit Medical Center (DMC) facility leadership and DTE, from whom the DMC buys all of it's power, is working together with PLD to resolve the problem. Patients, families and employees can expect an update from DRH leadership at or around 3 p.m. All emergency trauma patients are being diverted to other trauma level 1 institutions, including Henry Ford and St. John's Main as a precaution."
Conrad Mallett Jr., chief administration officer of DMC, said officials with Detroit Edison were on their way to Detroit Receiving early Tuesday afternoon.
"They're on their way to have a conference with us and we'll get an update from them," Mallett said.
Mallett called the outage a "substantial inconvenience" but said the hospital has "plenty of available power."
The emergency generators kicked in immediately following the outage Tuesday morning, Mallett said.
"All of our patients are safe," he said. "The patients' rooms have electricity."
While power remains out, all trauma patients are being diverted to other level one trauma centers.
"We want to keep surgeries to a minimum," Mallet said.
At the hospital, generator power is being preserved for critical needs.
"We have something like 40 elevators (in the hospital) and we have five currently working, so we're trying to conserve energy," Mallet said.
Power also is being diverted from anything deemed non-essential, like the first-floor public bathrooms and employee cafeterias.
"We are feeding the patients but the employees are fending for themselves," Mallett said.
Detroit resident Daletha Green, 40, arrived at Detroit Receiving around 11:30 a.m. for a follow-up appointment at the hospital's burn unit.
"When we got in there it was dark," she said. "Nurses and doctors had flashlights."
Green said at least one elevator was functioning, which allowed her to skip the stairs on her way up to the burn unit.
"It was dark in the burn unit near the reception desk, but the emergency light was on in the room," she said.
Green also said she had difficulty getting to the hospital this morning due to traffic light outages.
"We were in traffic since there were no street lights working," she said. "I didn't know what was going on."
The outage comes at a time when the city works to transition to providing electricity to customers. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, negotiations had the city exiting the power business in the next five to seven years by migrating customers to DTE. The DTE system will be expanded in the upcoming years to cover the extra load and the lighting department will decommission its equipment.
In June, the state successfully sold $185 million in new bonds Wednesday to help pay for 55,000 new streetlights in Detroit. The bonds were available because they were issued by the improved rating is Michigan Finance Authority to benefit the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit, an independent body created by the state to improve the lighting systems.
As result of the outage Tuesday, Detroit Public Schools will follow a half-day dismissal procedure after 87 of its 97 schools were impacted, the district announced.
"In cases where students do not take the bus, parents should come to the school to retrieve their children," DPS spokesman Steven Wasko said in an email. "No child will be released until a parent has been contacted. Wherever possible, students will be fed school lunches at the school. All after-school and evening programs are canceled. Detroit Public Schools are in the process of contacting parents by phone regarding dismissal procedures."
Wanda Moreland, 39, said having to pick up her son, Justin, from school early on Tuesday because of the power outage was a little inconvenient.
"I got a couple of automated calls from the school and his teacher called to let me know the power was out," she said. "I had to leave early from work to come get him."
Moreland, who works at a DTE Energy payment center, collected her son from Walter Chrysler Elementary at about noon Tuesday instead of the usual 3:30 p.m.
Fortunately, she is scheduled to work a half day on Tuesdays because she takes classes at night, she said.
However, Justin said he was glad to get out of school early.
Wayne State University's main campus is closed Tuesday, including evening classes and events. Its extension centers remain open.
Tom Reynolds, associate director of public relations for Wayne State University, confirmed some buildings on campus were impacted.
"There are a number of buildings without power, but not a majority," Reynolds said. "Buildings on the north end, which are on the DTE grid, aren't affected. We have crisis plans in place. There are backup generators running in buildings, especially buildings with labs.
"We have campus police all over the campus, searching buildings to make sure that students are safe and for people who might be trapped in elevators. At this point, we have no information that people are stuck in elevators."
Lights flickered in the buildings around 10:30 a.m. before the power went out. At the municipal building, staff, employees and visitors used flashlights to navigate basement hallways. Hundreds of people streamed out of the building as authorities announced the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center would be evacuated and shuttered for the day.
Wayne County Sheriff's deputies are continuing to assist the disabled and elderly out of the building. Some had been on higher level floors. Some have been observed exiting in wheelchairs. Others, with walkers.
Firefighters entering the building at 11:20 a.m. said they had no idea how many were trapped in elevator cars but said it's "a lot."
Brad Lyons, along with his aunt, Mary Holt, who is in her 80s and in a wheelchair, was on the 11th floor on the court side of the building and was unable to get down.
Lyons said Wayne County Sheriff's deputies patiently walked her down the stairs.
"They were working hard," he said. "They got everybody calm and cool. They got them in order."
In reference to the firefighters and officers, Holt, from her chair added: "I'm thankful for everything you've done for me."
The Detroit People Mover tweeted out it was experiencing a system delay as a result of the power disruption as well.
At Frank Murphy, the elevators were out and deputies directed crowds toward the jammed stairwells. A group of people were stuck in an elevator on the sixth floor. Some people also were stuck in another elevator for a few minutes.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, power was restored to Frank Murphy shortly before 12:30 p.m. The court will remain closed Tuesday.
The outage also stopped the Robert Bashara murder-for-hire trial. It marked the second time a power outage has impacted the Bashara trial, which was delayed by a power outage during a preliminary exam last summer.
Michelle Devroy, 48, of Redford Township was in court to watch a trial.
"This is unusual ... it's cold. They don't own a generator? They should look into that."
Duane Albright, 62, of Clinton Township was stuck on the second floor at Frank Murphy for about a half-hour. A man helped him navigate the courthouse stairs.
"It was no big deal; they just had to figure out how to get me downstairs (with his respirator)," said Albright, who was a witness during a preliminary examination.
Streetlights in the area also are being impacted and there are reports some fire and police stations are without power as firefighters and officers are trying to use generators to provide temporary relief.
"The Detroit Police Department does have a contingency plan in place," Sgt. Michael Woody said. "Right now, we have generators at our precincts. The outage only seems to be affecting downtown at this time. We are handling business as usual. We will try to send officers to direct traffic at major intersections, but we don't have the manpower to be at all intersections. We're advising motorists to treat intersections as four-way stops."
The majority of fire buildings have backup generators, according to Capt. Gerod Funderburg.
The Red Wings and Florida Panthers got an unexpected morning off.
Morning skates, leading to Tuesday night's game at Joe Louis Arena, were canceled because of the massive power outage downtown.
Workers were told leave the arena shortly after 11 a.m.
This was the second time in three days Joe Louis Arena was affected by a power outage.
Sunday's game was delayed by approximately 30 minutes 29 seconds into the game when the power went out.
Coach Mike Babcock said the Red Wings had their team meetings Tuesday morning, so preparation wasn't affected other than getting on the ice.
Game time for Tuesday's game against the Florida Panthers is 7:30 p.m., so as of early afternoon, there was no threat of the game being canceled.
At 11 a.m., Mayor Mike Duggan's chief of staff, Alexis Wiley, exited City Hall and told The News she could not immediately comment on the outages.
"We're still gathering information," she said.
Duggan's spokesman John Roach echoed Wiley's position via text message. Officials are still working to get a handle on the situation, he said.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...-outage-prompts-evacuations-detroit/19777159/
Detroit — Power is slowly being restored Tuesday afternoon after a widespread outage caused evacuations of buildings throughout the downtown, including Joe Louis Arena, Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, the Detroit Institute of Arts and some buildings at Wayne State University.
According to Detroit Press Office shortly before noon: "The city's public lighting grid suffered a major cable failure that has caused the entire grid to lose power at approximately 10:30 this morning. The outage is affecting all customers on the PLD grid. We have isolated the issue and are working to restore power as soon as possible."
"The city's Public Lighting Department is working closely with DTE during this process."
DTE Energy Co. spokesman Scott Simons said "it looks like the entire Detroit Public Lighting system is down. Affecting about 100 buildings, places like The Joe, Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, fire stations, schools. We were notified about 10:30 a.m. We're working with them to help resolve the situation. We'll help investigate the problem and make repairs. It's too early yet to determine what has caused the shutdown."
Detroit Public Lighting system couldn't be reached for immediate comment.
DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital was running on partial power while Children's Hospital of Michigan and DMC Sinai Grace confirmed they still had power. Wayne County Jail was running on backup power and had no issues.
"DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital informed patients, families, clinical staff and non-clinical employees that it had experienced two power outages caused by outdated public lighting department equipment," spokeswoman Sarah Collica said. "DRH leadership emphasized the fact that all patients are safe and being well-cared for. All emergency power systems are working effectively. Detroit Medical Center (DMC) facility leadership and DTE, from whom the DMC buys all of it's power, is working together with PLD to resolve the problem. Patients, families and employees can expect an update from DRH leadership at or around 3 p.m. All emergency trauma patients are being diverted to other trauma level 1 institutions, including Henry Ford and St. John's Main as a precaution."
Conrad Mallett Jr., chief administration officer of DMC, said officials with Detroit Edison were on their way to Detroit Receiving early Tuesday afternoon.
"They're on their way to have a conference with us and we'll get an update from them," Mallett said.
Mallett called the outage a "substantial inconvenience" but said the hospital has "plenty of available power."
The emergency generators kicked in immediately following the outage Tuesday morning, Mallett said.
"All of our patients are safe," he said. "The patients' rooms have electricity."
While power remains out, all trauma patients are being diverted to other level one trauma centers.
"We want to keep surgeries to a minimum," Mallet said.
At the hospital, generator power is being preserved for critical needs.
"We have something like 40 elevators (in the hospital) and we have five currently working, so we're trying to conserve energy," Mallet said.
Power also is being diverted from anything deemed non-essential, like the first-floor public bathrooms and employee cafeterias.
"We are feeding the patients but the employees are fending for themselves," Mallett said.
Detroit resident Daletha Green, 40, arrived at Detroit Receiving around 11:30 a.m. for a follow-up appointment at the hospital's burn unit.
"When we got in there it was dark," she said. "Nurses and doctors had flashlights."
Green said at least one elevator was functioning, which allowed her to skip the stairs on her way up to the burn unit.
"It was dark in the burn unit near the reception desk, but the emergency light was on in the room," she said.
Green also said she had difficulty getting to the hospital this morning due to traffic light outages.
"We were in traffic since there were no street lights working," she said. "I didn't know what was going on."
The outage comes at a time when the city works to transition to providing electricity to customers. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, negotiations had the city exiting the power business in the next five to seven years by migrating customers to DTE. The DTE system will be expanded in the upcoming years to cover the extra load and the lighting department will decommission its equipment.
In June, the state successfully sold $185 million in new bonds Wednesday to help pay for 55,000 new streetlights in Detroit. The bonds were available because they were issued by the improved rating is Michigan Finance Authority to benefit the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit, an independent body created by the state to improve the lighting systems.
As result of the outage Tuesday, Detroit Public Schools will follow a half-day dismissal procedure after 87 of its 97 schools were impacted, the district announced.
"In cases where students do not take the bus, parents should come to the school to retrieve their children," DPS spokesman Steven Wasko said in an email. "No child will be released until a parent has been contacted. Wherever possible, students will be fed school lunches at the school. All after-school and evening programs are canceled. Detroit Public Schools are in the process of contacting parents by phone regarding dismissal procedures."
Wanda Moreland, 39, said having to pick up her son, Justin, from school early on Tuesday because of the power outage was a little inconvenient.
"I got a couple of automated calls from the school and his teacher called to let me know the power was out," she said. "I had to leave early from work to come get him."
Moreland, who works at a DTE Energy payment center, collected her son from Walter Chrysler Elementary at about noon Tuesday instead of the usual 3:30 p.m.
Fortunately, she is scheduled to work a half day on Tuesdays because she takes classes at night, she said.
However, Justin said he was glad to get out of school early.
Wayne State University's main campus is closed Tuesday, including evening classes and events. Its extension centers remain open.
Tom Reynolds, associate director of public relations for Wayne State University, confirmed some buildings on campus were impacted.
"There are a number of buildings without power, but not a majority," Reynolds said. "Buildings on the north end, which are on the DTE grid, aren't affected. We have crisis plans in place. There are backup generators running in buildings, especially buildings with labs.
"We have campus police all over the campus, searching buildings to make sure that students are safe and for people who might be trapped in elevators. At this point, we have no information that people are stuck in elevators."
Lights flickered in the buildings around 10:30 a.m. before the power went out. At the municipal building, staff, employees and visitors used flashlights to navigate basement hallways. Hundreds of people streamed out of the building as authorities announced the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center would be evacuated and shuttered for the day.
Wayne County Sheriff's deputies are continuing to assist the disabled and elderly out of the building. Some had been on higher level floors. Some have been observed exiting in wheelchairs. Others, with walkers.
Firefighters entering the building at 11:20 a.m. said they had no idea how many were trapped in elevator cars but said it's "a lot."
Brad Lyons, along with his aunt, Mary Holt, who is in her 80s and in a wheelchair, was on the 11th floor on the court side of the building and was unable to get down.
Lyons said Wayne County Sheriff's deputies patiently walked her down the stairs.
"They were working hard," he said. "They got everybody calm and cool. They got them in order."
In reference to the firefighters and officers, Holt, from her chair added: "I'm thankful for everything you've done for me."
The Detroit People Mover tweeted out it was experiencing a system delay as a result of the power disruption as well.
At Frank Murphy, the elevators were out and deputies directed crowds toward the jammed stairwells. A group of people were stuck in an elevator on the sixth floor. Some people also were stuck in another elevator for a few minutes.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, power was restored to Frank Murphy shortly before 12:30 p.m. The court will remain closed Tuesday.
The outage also stopped the Robert Bashara murder-for-hire trial. It marked the second time a power outage has impacted the Bashara trial, which was delayed by a power outage during a preliminary exam last summer.
Michelle Devroy, 48, of Redford Township was in court to watch a trial.
"This is unusual ... it's cold. They don't own a generator? They should look into that."
Duane Albright, 62, of Clinton Township was stuck on the second floor at Frank Murphy for about a half-hour. A man helped him navigate the courthouse stairs.
"It was no big deal; they just had to figure out how to get me downstairs (with his respirator)," said Albright, who was a witness during a preliminary examination.
Streetlights in the area also are being impacted and there are reports some fire and police stations are without power as firefighters and officers are trying to use generators to provide temporary relief.
"The Detroit Police Department does have a contingency plan in place," Sgt. Michael Woody said. "Right now, we have generators at our precincts. The outage only seems to be affecting downtown at this time. We are handling business as usual. We will try to send officers to direct traffic at major intersections, but we don't have the manpower to be at all intersections. We're advising motorists to treat intersections as four-way stops."
The majority of fire buildings have backup generators, according to Capt. Gerod Funderburg.
The Red Wings and Florida Panthers got an unexpected morning off.
Morning skates, leading to Tuesday night's game at Joe Louis Arena, were canceled because of the massive power outage downtown.
Workers were told leave the arena shortly after 11 a.m.
This was the second time in three days Joe Louis Arena was affected by a power outage.
Sunday's game was delayed by approximately 30 minutes 29 seconds into the game when the power went out.
Coach Mike Babcock said the Red Wings had their team meetings Tuesday morning, so preparation wasn't affected other than getting on the ice.
Game time for Tuesday's game against the Florida Panthers is 7:30 p.m., so as of early afternoon, there was no threat of the game being canceled.
At 11 a.m., Mayor Mike Duggan's chief of staff, Alexis Wiley, exited City Hall and told The News she could not immediately comment on the outages.
"We're still gathering information," she said.
Duggan's spokesman John Roach echoed Wiley's position via text message. Officials are still working to get a handle on the situation, he said.
