Detroit Power Outage Blamed On Massive Cable Failure: School Closings Arise

Detroit experienced a large power outage on December 2, and according to USA Today, the Detroit power outage can be blamed on a massive failure of a cable that shut off electricity to many public buildings such as jails, police stations and fire stations.

The Associated Press states that Detroit Public Schools are dismissing students at mid-day due to the power failure, which happened at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

As reported by the Inquisitr, the Detroit power failure also affected non-public buildings as well. Questions about whether the Detroit power outage is the result of a cyber-terrorist attack — or makes the city vulnerable to one — have arisen as well in the wake of the power failure.

Reactions to the major power outage have swept through Twitter, with up-to-the-second updates about the Detroit power outage showing information about people being trapped on elevators and subsequently rescued as those folks tweeting from a 15-mile radius within Detroit, discovered via Twitter’s advanced search, provide more details about school closings and such because of the power outage.
Tweets about power near:”Detroit, MI” within:25mi

CBS Detroit notes Detroit Public School officials as stating that Detroit students would be released at their half-day dismissal time through the entire Detroit district due to the power failure.

The widespread Detroit power outage on Tuesday caused streetlights to go out and more — and even though power was restored to the Detroit Third Circuit Court by 1 p.m., the building will remain closed until Wednesday morning.

The DTE Energy Twitter page — which is separate from Detroit Public Lighting — can be viewed for updates as well.

“The city’s public lighting grid suffered a major cable failure that has caused the entire grid to lose power at approximately 10:30 this morning. The outage is affecting all customers on the PLD grid. We have isolated the issue and are working to restore power as soon as possible. The city’s Public Lighting Department is working closely with DTE during this process.”

The Detroit power outage affected approximately 100 buildings.

“DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital informed patients, families, clinical staff and non-clinical employees that it had experienced two power outages caused by outdated public lighting department equipment. DRH leadership emphasized the fact that all patients are safe and being well cared for. All emergency power systems are working effectively. Detroit Medical Center (DMC) facility leadership and DTE, from whom the DMC buys all of its power, is working together with PLD to resolve the problem. Patients, families and employees can expect an update from DRH leadership at or around 3 p.m. All emergency trauma patients are being diverted to other trauma level 1 institutions, including Henry Ford and St. John’s Main as a precaution.”