Detroit: It's windy out but stop calling 911 over it

Mar 8, 2017 at 3:26 pm

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High winds downed a utility pole on W. Elizabeth street in Corktown.

Today blows. Literally.

Fifty-mile per hour wind gusts have left more than 400,000 DTE customers throughout Metro Detroit without power. Wind-swept fires have been popping up across the city, spreading Detroit's fire-fighting forces thin.

The problems range from the serious to the mundane. A flying branch in Ferndale dinged up this writer's car. One man on foot in Hamtramck reported having been hit in the face by a rogue piece of trash.

But if high winds have knocked your power out or downed a tree or power line near you, the city of Detroit asks that you please don't call its 9-1-1 center about it. A press release from Mayor Mike Duggan's office says dispatchers have been inundated with calls since we entered this period of high blusterity. The line is only to be used for emergencies.

You can find the appropriate numbers for DTE and tree services in the message from the city below.

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