By Robert Allen

The city of Detroit is reporting that power has been restored to all customers affected by today's cable failure.

Throughout the afternoon, lights were gradually coming back on across Detroit's fire stations, schools and other public buildings after a power outage hit more than 900 sites.

About one-third of the outages were restored by 2:15 p.m., according to DTE Energy. A "major cable failure" shut down the grid at about 10:30 a.m., affecting all of Detroit's Public Lighting Department's roughly 100 customers, according to a statement from the City of Detroit.

The mayor's office said in a news release that two city facilities powered by the grid remain without power, but that efforts are underway to power up those as well.

The outage caused disruptions across downtown Detroit, with virtually all traffic signals and the People Mover out, and numerous elevators stuck in public buildings. Detroit Fire Department firefighters continued into the afternoon rescuing people out of elevators from downtown buildings. Most fire stations are on generator power, and all are able to take calls by land line or radio.

Wayne State University and numerous local schools were affected by the outages. Shortly before noon, the university's web site listed more than 40 buildings that were without power, and classes on the main and medical campuses were canceled.

But at 5:30 p.m., WSU's web site indicated that all power had been restored and classes are back on track for Wednesday.

The Detroit Medical Center's Detroit Receiving Hospital has begun rerouting highest-level trauma patients to Henry Ford and St. John's main hospitals, although emergency power system have kept patients "safe and well cared for," according to a statement. Other DMC hospitals — Harper and Hutzel, for example — were not affected by the outage.

Spokeswoman Sarah Collica said she was told "the lights flickered on and off — an indication that crews are working on the problem" she said, but overall patient care was not affected. DMC leadership will update families and patients at 3 p.m., she said.

Reports of the outages began flooding fire department radio traffic shortly after 10:30 a.m. today, with dispatchers checking to make sure the stations were able to open their garage doors.

Meanwhile, many nonpublic buildings are unaffected.

Public safety operations, courts affected

The lights flickered before they went out completely at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in downtown Detroit around 10:30 a.m.

Cases, including Bob Bashara's murder trial, abruptly stopped for the day as people evacuated the court by stairs.

"It's a significant hindrance to how we're able to conduct our daily business," said Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny, who presides over the criminal division.

Power was restored to the building, but it remained closed today and is expected to reopen Wednesday morning.

Jail inmates who were courtrooms were quickly escorted out.

"During a blackout, inmates are secured to nearest lockup and monitored by deputies until power is restored," said Dennis Niemiec, a spokesman for the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. "There is no movement until power is restored."



At the Wayne County Jail, more than 1,200 inmates at Jail Divisions 1 and 2, at 570 and 525 Clinton Street, were locked down until power was restored, said Cpl. Brian Earle with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.

Power was restored at Jail Division 1 and backup generator was brought to Jail Division 2, so operations are now normal there, Niemiec said.

The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center also was evacuated today. Insurance defense attorney Aaron Kleid had just finished up a settlement conference in that building when the outage hit.

"We went out to use the elevator and the lights started flickering. The power went out. There was a PA (announcement) to evacuate," said the Southfield-based lawyer who had to walk down 19 flights of stairs to exit the building. "It was exceptionally orderly."

Once on the sidewalk, people were busy asking one another what was going on. Kleid's news app explained the situation to him.

There was power in the Millender Center parking garage, so he was able to retrieve his car without a problem. However, because traffic lights were out along Jefferson, he said the route took him an extra 10 to 15 minutes.

"It's very inconvenient to everyone who uses the court system," Wayne County Circuit Chief Judge Robert Colombo Jr. said of the outage. "It's a significant problem when this happens."

Colombo said outages have occurred quite a few times over the last 10-15 years and said he remembers problems with the grid dating back to the early 2000s.

"We need to get this grid fixed so that in the future, we don't have these problems," Colombo said.

He pointed out when the courts close, it costs everybody money. Jurors in trials will have to come back and then will be paid for another day.

Michigan State Police have troopers helping police with patrols near Detroit City Airport, the Central Business District and Wayne State. The MSP Detroit regional dispatch center wasn't affected by the outages. Belle Isle, which is operated by the state, continues to experience "brown-outs," according to an MSP news release.

Arts museum, Cobo Center and more without power

Among others dealing with outages today:

• The Detroit Institute of Arts Museum was closed because of the outage, cutting short nearly 900 children's field trips. A back-up generator was activated to maintain humidity and climate control as well as security.

"The art is never damaged during a power outage," said museum spokeswoman Pam Marcil.

• The Detroit Historical Society lost power while a school group was in the Streets of Old Detroit exhibit, according to organization spokesman Bob Sadler.

"There wasn't any panic" he said. "The staff acted fast. They had flashlights. They moved them up to lobby and they boarded their buses."

Some old and delicate pieces in the DHS collection are temperature- and humidity-controlled, but Sadler said the power outage won't impact their well-being.

• Though Cobo Center lost its power and the work crews preparing for the North American International Auto Show were sent home, it won't affect their ability to be ready for the region's prime event in January, said Cobo spokesman Phil Frame.

He explained that safety regulations required that.

"I think they're going to be able to recover fine," he said. "We expect to be back up in few hours. Either the grid will come up or there are some generators we're trying to get. We expect everything to be back to normal business by tomorrow morning."

The auto show opens to the press on Jan. 12 and to the public on Jan. 17.

• The private Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle also lost power.

• The outages also cut power to the Belle Isle Aquarium, but the fish will be OK. Back-up generators are keeping the filtration system running, said Richard Kik, the aquarium curator. The lights are on, just dimmer; the aquarium is open to the public on weekends.

Free Press reporters Elisha Anderson, Marlon A. Walker, John Gallagher, Robin Erb, Zlati Meyer, Kimberly Mitchell and Lori Higgins contributed to this report.