Clinton, Macomb Townships Avoid Major Outages as Remnants of Hurricane Sandy Head West

Gusting winds and rain whipped Clinton and Macomb townships overnight into Tuesday morning, but the areas avoided major outages as the remnants of Hurricane Sandy spun westward.

A wind advisory remains in effect through 1 p.m. Tuesday and a hazardous weather outlook is in place through this evening for southeast Michigan, including Macomb County, according to the National Weather Service. A wind advisory means sustained winds of up to 30 miles per hour or gusts of 45 mph are expected, the forecasting agency says.

While other southeast Michigan communities such as Rochester Hills, Ray Township and Fraser experienced significant power outages as the storm moved through, less than 200 customers in Macomb Township and only 29 in Clinton Township were without service Tuesday morning, according to DTE's outage map.

The utility said Monday that it anticipated outages if southeast Michigan experienced wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour, as the National Weather Service forecast, as the far reaches of Hurricane Sandy lashed the area. The so-called "Frankenstorm" made landfall Monday on the East Coast, leaving massive destruction, millions without power and at least 16 deaths in its wake, according to cnn.com.

In Clinton and Macomb townships, showers, gusting winds and high temperatures in the mid-40s are expected to continue through Halloween on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.