Berkley residents on day 5 without power left with blood boiling

Day five without power in Berkley takes toll on residents

Thousands are still in dark - most of them have gone six days without power. It is a time period no one anticipated and it is clearly taking it’s toll.

BERKLEY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Thousands are still in dark - most of them have gone six days without power. It is a time period no one anticipated and it is clearly taking it’s toll.

"We have not slept. We are freezing to death in our house, and we have no recourse," said Nicole LeBoeuf.

LeBoeuf was one of a couple hundred in one Berkley neighborhood who, like hundreds of thousands, lost power around noon Thursday.

"Friday we got an update that it would be restored Friday. Saturday we got an update it would be Saturday. Sunday all the updates disappeared and it all became unavailable," she said.

DTE Energy acknowledges this ice storm has caused considerable frustration to customers. Some of whom have spent six days in the dark.

DTE says its process is to address the largest amount of outages, those affecting schools, and hospitals first and then work their way into the neighborhoods.

"We can’t keep suffering like this. It’s February in Michigan. like what do they want us to do," said LeBoeuf.

"It’s way too long," said Lois Henry.

Other neighbors like Dave and Lois Henry took a gamble and bought a generator.

"We came back Friday afternoon, set it up, and have been on it ever since," said Dave Henry.

They know others aren't as lucky

"It’s really impacting people really hard," Dave said.

On Tuesday evening it was a sight they’d all been waiting for, fleets of utility trucks, addressing a number of issues in this neighborhood alone.

"I can’t say enough for them," said Dave. "They are just doing what they've got to do."

But some are left wondering how long the lights will stay off the next time.

"I wish we had competitive choices. We wouldn’t be treated like this if we did," LeBoeuf said.

Right now power came off for those customers who have their power back. But right now 18,000 DTE customers remain without power and roughly 4,500 DTE crews and those contracted by the utility company are still working to get the power on so they won't have to endure a seventh day in the dark.