Severe storms knocked out power for more than 260,000 DTE Energy customers across Metro Detroit on Thursday, Sept. 3, with the I-96 corridor hit hardest.

DTE Director of Operations Jerry Tullio said at a Thursday afternoon press conference that the most significant storm damage was along the I-96 corridor, which runs through Farmington and Farmington Hills, Fox 2 Detroit reported. As we reported Thursday, outages had already topped 90,000 by early morning. By 4:30 p.m., that number surged past 239,000, according to ClickOnDetroit's outage tracker. The outage count peaked above 260,000 Thursday night.

DTE targets full restoration by Sunday

At a Friday morning news conference, DTE said it had restored power to 75,000 customers overnight and outlined a restoration timeline: 65% of affected customers by end of Friday, 90% by end of Saturday and all remaining customers by end of Sunday, the Detroit Free Press reported. About 241,000 customers were still without power at 4 a.m. Friday, according to WKAR.

DTE deployed more than 3,400 storm response workers, including more than 1,000 brought in from outside Michigan.

NWS surveys Detroit for possible tornado

The National Weather Service (NWS) sent a survey team Friday, Sept. 4, to the Hamtramck, east Detroit and Belle Isle areas to determine whether a suspected tornado touched down on Detroit's east side Thursday afternoon. As of late Friday, the NWS had not released its findings.

A tornado warning was issued for Wayne County just before 4 p.m. Thursday. If the NWS confirms a tornado, it would be the first inside Detroit city limits since an F-2 tornado struck on July 2, 1997, injuring 90 people, CBS News Detroit reported.

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield said Thursday evening that the city could not yet confirm a tornado but acknowledged "significant damage to buildings and to homes."

The NWS did confirm a separate EF-0 tornado in Marysville, in St. Clair County, on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 2. That twister touched down at about 7:19 p.m., stayed on the ground roughly two minutes and had estimated peak winds of 75 mph, WNEM reported. No injuries were reported.

Clear weekend ahead

Forecasters expected weather to improve Friday evening. A few showers may linger into early Saturday before clearing. Highs are forecast in the upper 70s Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday mostly sunny. Labor Day is forecast for mostly sunny skies and temperatures near 80 degrees, according to ClickOnDetroit.

Safety reminders for cleanup

Residents cleaning up storm debris should stay at least 25 feet from downed power lines and anything touching them, including fences, trees and standing water. Always assume a downed line is live and call 911 for immediate hazards.

Anyone using a generator should run it outdoors, away from doors, windows and garages to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. To report outages or downed lines, call DTE at 800-477-4747.