A State of Emergency was declared for 12 northern Michigan counties that sustained substantial and costly damage as a result of a severe ice storm that impacted the area from March 28 through March 30, 2025.
The first wave of the storm came through on a Friday evening, but hadn’t melted before the second wave came through about 24 hours later, making the situation “catastrophic,” said Meteorologist Sean Christensen at the U. S. National Weather Service in Gaylord.
Christensen received reports of ice accumulation of as much as – or more than – a 1-inch thickness around Otsego County. The build-up caused trees to snap like matchsticks, bringing down thousands of power lines across the affected counties. With fallen trees and power lines draped over structures, roads and driveways, hundreds of people were blocked in and unable to leave their homes.
The storm tested the resilience of critical infrastructure, including communications and electric, and emergency response operations.
Widespread power outages left thousands of residents and businesses without electricity, leading to the temporary closure of grocery stores and gas stations. Because of the severity of the storm, and the uncertainty surrounding the duration of power outages, residents who were able to navigate around downed trees and lines traveled to Mancelona, Kalkaska, Traverse City, and other communities to the south to stock up on fuel, food, and necessities. Many filled gas cans to supply generators.
Large chain and local hardware stores sold out of generators, triggering the delivery of multiple truckloads of generators to restock shelves. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation allocated more than $1 million for disaster relief efforts that provided food and generators for 13 counties.
Road commission crews, firefighters, and good Samaritan volunteers worked for days to open miles of blocked roadways to make them accessible for linemen. Ice-covered trees could be heard suddenly popping and snapping, falling to the ground around them.
Neighbors stepped up to help one another, assisting farmers struggling to provide water for their livestock, and elderly residents who were unable to get out of their homes, their heat sources running low. Emergency first responders and members of the military performed door-to-door well-being checks, providing bottled water and necessities to shut-ins throughout the Lakes of the North community between Mancelona and Gaylord.
Across the counties, food pantries, faith-based organizations, and churches opened their buildings to provide meals, cell phone charging stations, and warm shelter to anyone in need.
A volunteer-run “Storm Camp” was established at the Otsego County Fairgrounds to provide contractors with a place to rest and eat. Corporations and small businesses contributed food and supplies that were distributed to homeowners, utility workers and first responders.
Michigan State Police Lt. Mike DeCastro, the 7th District Emergency Management and Homeland Security Coordinator, said county Emergency Operation Centers faced operational and logistical challenges because of the storm. Power outages crippled emergency operations and communication hubs, forcing agencies to rely on backup generators, some of which also failed. Blocked roadways prevented utility and emergency crews from reaching affected areas for days. Fuel access was limited since gas stations rely on power to operate. Customers faced long lines at stations and restaurants that were open.
The loss of internet connectivity caused communication failures, complicating response coordination between emergency centers and disrupting real-time information-sharing, DeCastro said. Multiple jurisdictions declared local emergencies, and emergency centers faced prioritization conflicts, such as power restoration vs. road clearing vs. a rapidly rising shelter demand as homes lost heat for extended periods of time.
Consumers Energy sent 900 crews to the disaster, in addition to 340 forestry crews. Workers installed 636 new transformers, replaced 1,810 poles and 7,600 downed wires, and installed 220 miles of new power lines.
Great Lakes Energy, based in Boyne City, reported ice as thick as 1.5 inches on devastated power lines, trees and critical infrastructure, leaving more than 66,000 GLE members without power. GLE crews worked amid the ice and freezing temperatures to rebuild more than 4,300 miles of damaged infrastructure, and 3,100 broken poles.
Residents with homeowners’ insurance could receive assistance if downed lines and trees damaged their insured structures. Insurance did not, however, cover the clean-up of trees and storm debris that had come down in their yards. Many homeowners are still dealing with fallen trees in their yards and have applied for permits to burn them during the winter, according to Lucas Merrick, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forest Resources Division manager in Gaylord.
Merrick said the storm affected nearly 3 million acres of privately owned and state land across the Northern Lower Peninsula. Approximately 919,000 acres of that is state land – which represents nearly 25% of all state forest land in Michigan.
In addition, 3,400 miles of state forest roads, 19 state parks, 54 state forest campgrounds, 162 boating access sites, and more than 3,200 miles of motorized and nonmotorized trails were impacted by the disaster, he said.
DNR’s immediate response efforts included a 25-member Incident Management Team activated to work with the State Emergency Operations Center. The team’s mission was to oversee more than 140 Michigan National Guard members and DNR crews tasked with clearing priority roads, providing access to 34 critical communication towers that are a part of Michigan’s Public Safety Communications System, and 13 cellular towers. These efforts were instrumental in re-establishing access to state radio communications, 911, law enforcement, fire districts, and other public safety agencies.
Antrim County EOC Director Matt Adamek said each public agency throughout the affected counties provide their reports to the federal government to obtain federal grant dollars from the Public Assistance Grant Program to help reduce the cost of recovery or to recuperate storm-related costs. Antrim County has been approved for Public Assistance Grant Funding, but the exact amount that the county will receive has not been established, he said.
“The ice storm continues to have ripple effects in Antrim County and throughout northern lower Michigan,” said Antrim’s Deputy County Administrator and Public Information Officer Janet Koch.
The total cost of damages remains undetermined.