Clawson Businesses Lose Thousands of Dollars from Storm

Several Clawson businesses were still in the dark Monday after a knocked out power Saturday, forcing them to close.

Business owners say they have lost thousands of dollars in business and spoiled food, canceled appointments and turned down hundreds of customers.

DTE Energy spokesman John Austerberry said crews hope to have almost all power restored by the end of Monday. "But there probably will be some single customer outages in small pockets," Austerberry said.

Power outages in the downtown area were spotty, with businesses on the southwest and northeast corners operating and but those on the southeast corner still without power. on Main Street had half power, with only lights on, and businesses south of it were powerless. 

 is operating on two generators with only half power, said Joan Horton, director of the . The offices in City Hall are still open. Across the street,  is open with full power. 

At the , a sign that says "No Power" was a disappointment for many of the restaurant's regular customers, co-owner Alex Riza said.

"It's been rough for us," Riza said, adding the eatery has been closed since Saturday evening.

Riza said between Sunday and Monday morning, it lost out on about $3,000 in business and another $3,000 worth of food it will have to replace. 

"I don't even know what to do, we have never made insurance claims," Riza said. "There's nothing you can do until the power comes back on."

Even when the power does come back on, the Clawson Grill won't be able to open up right away. Riza said it could take a whole day to clean up and restock. 

Next door, Dr. Darren Kalkan of canceled at least 20 appointments Monday. He said he is only taking patients who need urgent care.

"I'm doing emergencies by flashlight power," Kalkan said. "In 10 years, I've never had this happen. We've never been without power for this long."

is losing a lot of business because its one of the few salons open on Mondays, owner Debbie Bonich said. Without power, she can't even answer calls for appointments at the salon, she said.

A handful of customers was still hanging out in on Monday afternoon with the lights out. "We're just playing pool," customer Arjan Malushi said. "We're all disappointed." Owner Bujar Liti said he has lost about $1,000 in business. 

Other businesses closed Monday included, , , , , , , and others.