Some Northern Michigan residents face days of waiting for power restoration after ice storm
It could be several days before power is restored to those who were in the path of an ice storm that hit Northern Michigan during the weekend.
That's the estimate from power companies that serve the region and are dealing with the aftermath of tangled trees, wires and poles that has left some roads impassable even into Monday. The ice storm passed through northern Michigan on Saturday, pulling trees and utility pole lines down across the region.
"This is an unprecedented event with widespread damage across our entire system," Presque Isle Electric & Gas company said on social media and website reports. "Many roads are still impassable. Power cannot be restored until the infrastructure is repaired."
The Michigan State Police, Seventh District, said Monday that many of the roads remain impassable north of M-52; and the Michigan Department of Transportation's maps showed that Interstate 75 northbound and southbound remained closed in Gaylord into much of Monday because of downed wires. I-75 reopened in Gaylord about 2 p.m. Monday, Michigan State Police reported.
Here's a rundown of power company announcements for the region:
- Consumers Energy indicates on its outage map that some customers in the Huron National Forest region might not be restored until Tuesday night.
- Great Lakes Energy is listing hundreds of individual outages on its map that continue to affect over 44,000 customers including in the Gaylord and Grayling areas as of 12:45 p.m. Monday.
- Presque Isle Electric & Gas company, which serves an area from Cheboygan County through Oscoda County, says over 35,000 of its customers are without power. Customers should "plan on a multi-day outage that could extend 5+ days and should make alternative shelter arrangements," Monday's announcement said.
Gov. Whitmer declares state of emergency in northern Michigan counties
In the meantime, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency for ten counties in Northern Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, adding that more than 100,000 customers lost power at some point during the storm. The widespread power outages resulted in loss of phone and cellular service; and even backup generators were of limited use.
This is in addition to the Michigan State Emergency Operations Center being called into action Sunday to help local officials with recovery efforts and plans.
The emergency declaration is for the counties of Otsego, Oscoda, Montmorency, Presque Isle, Emmet, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Mackinac and Alpena. It allows the Michigan State Police and its Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division to coordinate state efforts above and beyond what has already been invoked.
In the meantime, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is reminding residents and property owners to take precautions when making cleanup arrangements.
"After a weekend of severe weather, falling victim to a scam may be the last thing on your mind, but fraudsters often know that and try to take advantage," Nessel said. "Be cautious to protect yourself from these scams when hiring contractors or making donations."
