Severe weather and widespread power outages over the July 4 weekend created challenges across Detroit. At the peak of the outage, an estimated 78,000 Detroit customers were without power. The storms also knocked out traffic signals, brought down trees and created additional challenges for residents and critical facilities.

Mayor Mary Sheffield’s priority during any emergency is to keep Detroiters safe, respond quickly and make sure residents—especially seniors and vulnerable neighbors—have access to the support they need.

Throughout the holiday weekend and the days that followed, City employees, emergency response teams and community partners worked across Detroit to respond to immediate needs, maintain critical services and help neighborhoods recover.

Here’s a closer look at the response.

Checking on residents and supporting neighborhoods

Throughout the four-day response period, the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs conducted wellness checks and contacted senior buildings. Department of Neighborhoods staff supported additional wellness checks, connected residents with resources and helped address downed trees and other neighborhood concerns.

The Mayor’s Office also worked with faith-based partners to activate churches as respite and cooling centers, expanding the network of neighborhood locations available to residents affected by outages.

The City’s AfterHours HelpLine connected callers with available respite services and shared requests for resources and wellness checks with the Department of Neighborhoods for follow-up.

Detroit Parks and Recreation opened Joseph Walker Williams Recreation Center as a respite center, giving residents a place to cool down, shower and charge electronic devices.

When two emergency shelter locations lost power, the City’s Construction and Demolition Department provided generators to keep the facilities operating until power was restored.

By Wednesday morning, power had been restored to the vast majority of Detroit customers affected by the storms, with approximately 1,000 customers still awaiting restoration.

Food replacement assistance for residents who lost power

The Detroit Health Department coordinated with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to help residents who lost food because of a power outage learn about potential replacement SNAP benefits.

Residents seeking replacement benefits must complete a Food Replacement Affidavit.

Residents can request or access the form by:

• Calling MDHHS at 844-464-3447
• Logging in to MI Bridges
• Contacting their Food Assistance Worker
• Downloading the Food Replacement Affidavit form
• Visiting a local MDHHS office
• Visiting a Detroit recreation center during business hours beginning Thursday, July 9

Impacted Detroit and Wayne County residents can request food replacement through July 23, 2026.

Completed forms can be uploaded through a MI Bridges account or submitted in person at a local MDHHS office.

Detroit MDHHS locations

Greenfield/Joy District
8655 Greenfield Road
Detroit, MI 48236

Grandmont Service Center
17455 Grand River Avenue
Detroit, MI 48227

Southwest Service Center
2524 Clark Street
Detroit, MI 48209

Conner Service Center
4733 Conner Street
Detroit, MI 48215

Keeping intersections safe

Approximately 200 traffic signals were affected by the storm. About 100 lost power, while another 100 were placed into flashing mode.

The Department of Public Works deployed 20 generators to some of Detroit’s highest-volume intersections to keep traffic moving safely. By Wednesday morning, fewer than 10 signals remained without power.

Clearing trees and debris

The City received more than 450 storm-related tree service requests through phone calls and Improve Detroit submissions.

General Services Department crews addressed more than 130 locations in the first days of the response, with Department of Public Works crews also supporting tree and brush removal efforts across the city.

Coordinating the response to the Marathon Refinery outage

As Detroit continued recovering from the storms, a separate power outage affected the Marathon Refinery on Sunday afternoon.

The City quickly activated its emergency response plan. The Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security coordinated with the refinery’s Emergency Operations Center, Detroit Police and Michigan State Police restricted traffic around the facility, and Detroit Fire Department HAZMAT teams monitored air quality.

The City also sent a Detroit Alerts 365 notification and public update advising nearby residents to shelter in place as a precaution while emergency teams monitored the situation.

After power was restored, DFD HAZMAT testing found no danger to the surrounding community. Roads reopened, and air-quality monitoring continued as the refinery gradually returned to full operation.

A coordinated response across Detroit

The response brought together City departments, public safety and emergency operations teams, utility crews, neighborhood staff, faith-based organizations and community partners.

From generators at busy intersections and emergency shelters to wellness checks, respite centers, tree removal and air-quality monitoring, teams worked throughout the holiday weekend to keep Detroiters safe, informed and connected to support.