Detroit Power Outage Closes Schools, Snarls Traffic
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iStock/Thinkstock(DETROIT) — Detroit struggled to restore power Tuesday after a cable snafu knocked out power to much of the city beleaguered city, prompting early dismissal from schools, knocking out traffic lights, and even preventing one firehouse from being able to open its doors.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the failure was caused by the aging infrastructure of a city that just emerged from bankruptcy. He said when one power cable failed, power was rerouted to a second cable which also failed. In order to not overload the power grid, Duggan said the entire system was shut down.
The cable belonged to Detroit Public Lighting, according to Homeland Security officials. Detroit Edison provides power to much of the Detroit area, but the older downtown grid is operated by Detroit Public Lighting.
A third of power had been restored to customers within a few hours and the remaining power was expected to be restored to customers by later Tuesday night, the mayor said.
Multiple buildings including the City County Building, the Joe Louis arena where the Detroit Red Wings play, and the Detroit City Airport have been affected, according to ABC News affiliate WXYZ-TV in Detroit.
The Detroit Fire Department said all firehouses are using backup generators and are able to respond to calls, according to Lt. Theresa Halsell. One firehouse, was unable to open its doors, officials said.
Halsell said a few people were temporarily stuck in elevators, but they were quickly evacuated and Duggan praised firefighters who carried some people down stairs.
Nearly all Detroit public schools — 87 of 97 — lost power. All schools dismissed students early due to the power outage.
Traffic lights were out and 100 officers were dispatched to the busiest intersections to keep traffic moving safely.
At Wayne State University, classes were still running even though a couple dozen buildings were without power, according to Wayne State University spokesman Rashida Williams.
All classes on the main campus and all evening events were cancelled, according to Wayne State University’s Twitter account.
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