The Destructive Power of Ice

   “It’s a generational storm; one people will talk about for the rest of their lives.” - Harold Dippman, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Gaylord.

   On Friday, March 28th and lasting through the weekend, Northern Michigan was hit with a devastating ice storm, with some areas reporting an inch and a half of accumulated ice. More than 90,000 homes were left without power and millions of trees were destroyed, leaving officials worried the aftermath will contribute to intense wildfires in the coming years.

   On Monday (April 21) I finally got the chance to drive up to see the damage for myself and to be honest, the aftermath has left me shocked.  Photos circulating online, and mine posted here, do not adequately convey the damage that you witness in person.  Mostly because the damage is everywhere.  It’s constant.  Very few areas were left unscathed and thats hard to fit all into one frame.  

Images like this, with entire treetops ripped off, are EVERYWHERE. Entire woodlots are completely cutdown.

The trees surrounding our cottage look skeletal after close to 80 percent of the branches snapped and fell to the ground or are left drooping as they wait for a strong wind.

The entire tops of pine trees, with trunks close to a foot in thickness, just snapped under the weight of all the ice.

Birch trees, known for their flexibility, are mostly seen laying on their sides, or in giant arches. This grove of birch trees in the Pigeon River State Forest looks more like a game of pick-up sticks from above.