SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — The northern Michigan ice storm left thousands without power, trapping some in their homes.
From her Livonia living room, Diana Brang showed us the photos of her mother's home in Gaylord, where she was trapped over the weekend without power.
Photos showed massive trees and branches covering the driveway and a power line draping her mother's car.
“She was like 'Diana, all I hear is the pine trees. The pine trees are coming down. I think they’re going to hit the house,'" Brang recalled. "So, she was really scared.”
Brang kept in contact until her mom's phone went out for hours.
“I was scared just because my mom is elderly, she’s kinda by herself and she’s diabetic,” Brang said.
Her mom eventually found shelter in a church, but it wasn’t until early Tuesday that a shelter-in-place was lifted in Otsego County, where 90% of residents still don't have power as of Tuesday evening, according to poweroutage.us.
Video from downtown Petoskey shows fallen trees and branches, while photos from the Schemanske family in Elmira show intense damage there too.
“All night long, the branches cracking and trees falling was like constant gun fire," Carol Schemanske said. "It sounded like a shooting range.”
“It just sounded like fireworks going off because it was constantly limbs flailing, trees falling, chunks of ice falling,” Sarah Schemanske said.
Now back home in Oakland County, the Schemanskes were at their cottage in Star Township over the weekend when the first storm rolled through Friday night. Trees hit the home, where they were trapped until Sunday without power and no water.
“When the power goes out, the water goes out," Sarah Schemanske said. "So, we were at a shortage for water and there was no access to roads. There was no way to go up to Meijer and buy more water; everything is shut down.”
On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a State of Emergency in 10 counties. Late Tuesday, she added two more counties, including Antrim County where the Schemanskes' home is.
Whitmer also deployed the National Guard to assist.
"We are continuing our all-hands-on-deck approach to help families and communities impacted by the storms in Northern Michigan,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Power restoration is a top priority, and I’m grateful to our utility partners for positioning hundreds of utility workers to help get power back online as fast as possible. State and local emergency teams are on the ground, and the Michigan National Guard will join them to clear roads, keep people safe, and help first responders get to where they need to go. We will get through this together.
“Our Soldiers and Airmen train to be ready to support communities across Michigan when facing natural disasters,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “Our focus will be to assist state and local agencies as we clear roadways overcome by debris.”
Meanwhile, Brang is calling electricians to fix her mom's electrical box, so she can have power restored. She's still worried about what comes next.
“It's just really hard trying to do everything down here when everything is happening up there,” Brang said.
