Greg Coburn / news@whmi.com


Following Monday’s severe storms that knocked out power to thousands in Livingston County, DTE Energy is handing out water to those in need.

DTE has set up its Community Van in the Kohl’s parking lot in Green Oak Township, off Whitmore Lake Road, to hand out half-gallon jugs of water and answer questions for anyone living in the area that lost power. The water can be used for household needs, drinking and washing.

There were about ten volunteers helping with the water distribution Tuesday.

In DTE’s most recent update Wednesday afternoon, the utility says more than 1,000 line workers from outside of Michigan have joined the 1,000 DTE line workers who are working around the clock to safely restore power to everyone impacted. DTE estimates that 50% of outages will be restored Wednesday, and 80% by the end of Thursday.

A Genoa Township resident told WHMI he had no damage but his neighbors had quite a bit. He did lose power though and wasn’t sure when it would be restored. The resident said he was excited about receiving the water since he has no running water at his house.

Livingston County Emergency Management Coordinator Therese Cremonte said that DTE has been a good partner and they set up the community van as quickly as they could. She says DTE is distributing water and wants residents to express any specific concerns.

Cremonte says DTE is happy to give out the water to help people get through because the number one thing about the power going down is water distribution because you can’t pull water out of a well or the city system without power. She added, “Power is a big part of our lives especially when it comes to providing water and we need water.”

DTE will be out from noon until 6:30pm today and again on Thursday at the same time. From there, potential future dates will be assessed.