No stranger to wild weather, Northern Michigan tries to cope with days of no power
The tip of Michigan's mitten struggled through another day without electricity Tuesday as restless residents tried to stay warm while utilities scrambled to restore power in a region waylaid by weekend freezing rain that brought down countless trees and poles.
Schools in several counties were closed again at the top of the Lower Peninsula. Sheriff's deputies armed with chainsaws cleared roads and were even delivering oxygen for the homebound. Drivers idled their vehicles in gas station lines that were blocks long.
Northern Michigan lives with crazy weather — Gaylord got 199 inches of snow this winter — but this wave is much different.
"It's an ice situation. The trees and power lines are loaded, literally," Charlevoix County Sheriff Chuck Vondra said. "Everything is caving in."
More than 180,000 power outages were reported Tuesday afternoon in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us, down from 300,000-plus earlier in the week. But entire communities in several counties have lacked electricity since Saturday.
The Cheboygan County sheriff said residents should consider leaving town if they have another place to stay. Officials in Petoskey turned City Hall into a 24/7 haven for people to warm up and charge phones. Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op, one of many utilities in the region, said recovery could take days.
"The challenge is the debris, impassable roads, and hundreds of downed poles. Each pole takes hours to replace," the utility said.
Petra Tank, 32, of Petoskey said she finally decided to drive 25 miles to a friend's home for warmth and a shower Monday.
"I realized, 'Oh, this is a big deal. We're not going to be back at work this week,'" said Tank, who has a tailor shop.
"We've been sitting ducks for three days without power, and the morale is officially starting to lower because our homes are only getting colder. … It's just kind of free-for-all," she told The Associated Press.
The Alpena News in Alpena couldn't publish a newspaper on Monday or Tuesday, but planned to finally have a print edition on Wednesday. Managing Editor Torianna Marasco said she posted stories online by traveling outside the area for internet access.
The Mackinac Bridge, a 5-mile span connecting Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas, has been closed at times because of thick ice falling from towers and cables.
A relief agency, Convoy of Hope, was loading trucks with food and water for a trip to northern Michigan, said Mike Way, pastor of Center Point Assembly church in Charlevoix.
"Everybody right now is on pins and needles. It's my understanding that more snow and ice are coming," Way said. "We're not out of the woods yet."
The staff at Tom's Family Market in Onaway used flashlights to help desperate customers find food in a pinch.