The summer wind came blowin? in Saturday evening, but it wasn’t the pleasant experience that Frank Sinatra crooned about in the 1960s.
One of the National Weather Service’s trained spotters in Oxford reported wind gusts of 60 miles per hour and three-quarter inch hail during the severe storm that rolled in around 7 p.m. July 2.
‘I think the storm caught everybody off guard,? said Addison Fire Chief Jerry Morawski. ‘They didn’t think it was going to be that bad.?
Addison took a big hit as a total of 1,549 lost power due to downed electrical lines and fallen trees, limbs and branches, according to the DTE Energy website.
‘The harder hit areas for us were Indian Lake, Lake George, Barr and Drahner roads,? Morawski said. ‘There were quite a few branches and trees down that way. There were some bigger trees down and roads blocked. Indian Lake was blocked for a little while.?
‘The road commission did a great job getting out there and clearing that out for us,? added Morawski, who also complimented the prompt response from DTE workers. ‘It still took a little while to get (the power) turned on, but they were out here pretty quick.?
Both of Addison’s fire stations lost power when the storm hit around 7 p.m. They relied on generators until power was restored around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 3.
‘Luckily, (there were) no fires,? Morawski said. ‘We had a few medicals. We had to transport one individual because they were on a ventilator and they didn’t have a generator backup, so we had to take them to the hospital. Other than that, nothing really major.?
Oxford fared a lot better than Addison.
Only 64 power outages were reported in 48371 zip code as of 11 p.m. Saturday night, according to the DTE Energy website.
‘We had nothing,? said Oxford Fire Chief Pete Scholz. ‘We didn’t have anything at all. It was extremely quiet here. We got lucky . . . I know Addison and Orion got hit pretty good.?