Well here it is April, and we have a snow storm.

The snow is not that unusual. After all. this is Michigan.

What is unusual is that once again SE Michigan experiences a relatively mild weather event, and the power goes out for 50,000 homes.

We thought this problem was taken care of last June when the region suffered a wind-related storm that approached a tornado in intensity. At the time, the power was off for as much as 12 days for some folks. There was political wringing of hands, public hearings and promises from DTE to correct the problems.

Since then we have had several minor weather events that led to power outages. Usually DTE blames falling trees -- which the utility promised to cut back last July.

We continue to ask: If the power is going to go out every time the wind blows or the snow falls, what in the world are we in for if a real weather catastrophe strikes?

Last week was severe weather awareness week. Perhaps someone should tell DTE.