Detroit's lights are beginning to flicker on after a cable failure shut down the grid at 10:30 a.m., putting 900 sites in the dark, including Detroit Medical Center's 320-bed Detroit Receiving Hospital, according to the The Detroit News.
The Children's Hospital of Michigan, DMC Sinai Grace, Harper University Hospital and Hutzel Women's Hospital were not affected by the outages.
Power has been restored in Detroit Receiving Hospital, a Level I trauma center that ran on partial power from a backup generator in the meantime, according to the report. All patients were safe and well-cared for, hospital officials said. As a precaution, Detroit Receiving Hospital began relocating emergency trauma patients to other Level 1 trauma centers at Henry Ford and St. John's main hospitals, according to the report.
Generator power was conserved for critical needs. Nurses and physicians used flashlights and emergency lights were on in the rooms, according to a patient who had an appointment at the hospital today. Five of the hospital's 40 elevators were working and first-floor bathrooms and employee cafeterias went without power, according to the report.
Even though the outage was a substantial inconvenience, the hospital had plenty of available power, Conrad Mallett Jr., chief administration officer of DMC, told The Detroit News.
The outages also affected 740 traffic signals, 87 out of 97 Detroit Public Schools, the courthouse, Wayne State University and some fire and police stations. No injuries were reported and the city was able to provide emergency response crews without interruption, according to the report.
The cable failure Detroit experienced today is common in large urban centers, according to DTE Energy officials. All power is expected to be restored by late tonight.