NOTE: DTE expects all power to be restored to the City of Taylor by tonight.
The City of Taylor continues to request that residents who have experienced severe tree damage and are seeking aid to report it to Department of Public Works officials on the "Fix It! Taylor program.
The City asks residents to use the "Fix It! Taylor" application instead of calling City Hall, which would only result in lengthy waits because of the call influx.
If you have a downed tree effecting a power line, or another power related power, go to the DTE website.
As of 11:15 a.m. this morning, DTE reports 833 customers in the community reporting outages. Most are in the area between the Lakes of Taylor and Pardee Road, and between Northline and Eureka. However, there are other pockets of the City without power.
While major thoroughfares throughout the City are now open, some residential streets are closed due to downed trees. A portion of Heritage Park is closed, but the majority of the parkway is open.
The City has two full-time crews working throughout the City specifically a tree-related problems. Street sweepers will also be activated throughout the City. The Department of Public Works will be coordinating with Rizzo Environmental Services on debris pickup.If residents have downed limbs that they can move to curbside locations, officials are advising that they do that.
However, DO NOT PUT STORM DEBRIS INTO THE STREET.
While all sections of the community were touched by the huge storm on Friday (July 8) evening, the biggest damage occurred in the east-west corridor running along Goddard and Eureka roads.
Parts of Detroit received nearly 3 inches of rain. The immense volume of rainwater was too great, even with all equipment and pump station systems functioning properly and at full capacity, the Great Lakes Water Authority said.
Taylor reported one fatality. The victim is Austin Kane Wohlfeil, 16. He was a sophomore at Truman High School.
He and his 20-year-old brother encountered a downed wire in their backyard in the 6000 of Michael, according to Taylor Pollce. Both brothers were shocked, but was the 16-year-old who died from his injuries at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn.
The incident occurred at about 8 p.m. when they observed smoke in their backyard and a downed power line. They both went outside and saw the wire. The older brother contacted their parents, who were away. The victim was squirting the line/smoke with a large squirt gun. The brother was unsure if Austin had any physical contact with the line. At some point, both received a jolt and knocked down. The older brother got up, but Austin did not. The father arrived an attempted to administer aid to his son.
Friday's storm hit Taylor hard, without warning. The winds and rains came so fast and unexpectedly that there was no time to activate the warning sirens. Trees in front of Art Van Furniture on Eureka and Racho were sheared off four feet above the ground. Older trees at West Mound Cemetery were pulled right out of the ground. Cars were turned in the Dick's Sporting Goods parking lot. The panel sign in front of Ray's Meat was completed blown over.
A worker at Ray's, who was in the store at the time of the storm, said that winds and rains were so heavy along Eureka that they picked up large trash containers and threw them hundreds of feet. The store's glass windows bowed in at the force of the winds, and rainwater funneled inside the store. People inside went to the back of the building, fearing the windows would explode, but they held. Eventually, when the storm moved on, the windows "snapped" back into their original positions.