Otsego County, Michigan All Roads Closed

[JudyJB]

I am not sure if Sue lives exactly in this county, but it is very close to where she does live, on top of Michigan's "hill." Apparently, there is quite a blizzard going on and even I-75, the main freeway is shut down. Hope Sue's new furnace is working and she has power!

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/ ... 975628002/

https://www.petoskeynews.com/gaylord/fe ... e-nav-next

My son lives about 50 miles south of Cleveland, and the winds there knocked his power out earlier today. Don't know if it is back on, but they have underground utilities in that area. They went out to dinner, but son said if power did not come back on, they would go to MILs condo.

[Colliemom]

Yes Judy, this is my home county. The roads were closed because of numerous accidents, cars getting stuck in snow etc., and blowing snow cresting whiteout conditions. It was making it too dangerous for road crews, the general public and emergency personnel responding to accidents to be out there, so they closed everything down. In terms of snow, it was only around 8-10 inches, but the winds were 40-50 miles and hour and thatvwas creating a lot of drifting. The winds started dying off in the early morning hours of Monday and the road crews hit the roads at 4 a.m. Roads were reopened at 10 a.m.but we were asked to stay off till Tuesday morning unless necessary. Most business s were closed anyway as a lot of roads were impassable. But due to the perserverence of our county road comission drivers who worked from 4 a.m. Monday morning till 8 p.m. Monday night, then back at it at 4 a.m, Tuesday morning till 8 p.m. Tuesday night, plowing the roads, clearng drifts, etc., sometimes getting stuck themselves, stopping to help yank out vehicles stuck in the roads, etc. the county was back up and running Tuesday morning. Schools in session etc. Public cooperated in staying off roads as asked except those who had to be out. Private snow removal companies put in long hours clearing businesses, private drives etc. It was an amazing feat considering the mess left by the blizzard. Road commission got a lot of kudos from the public, people and some businesses were stopping by to drop off food, coffee, cookies, treats etc., for the crews and a lot of thank you s on ther Facebook page. Same went to our Emergency personnel too. Road Commission issued a Thank You to everyone for it all. It’s a great Community to live in.

I never lost power, but it was blinking on and off over 5 hours. It was a wild night out there, that wind was just howling. One thing that came out softer it was over, was the fact that this low pressure system was deeper than the one that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald!

[MandysMom]

I know about that mess, which extended to Minnesota. Son, Nick and his 8 friends had gone ice fishing Friday, planning to leave for home on Sunday at 10, with only 2 inches of snow expected. They had 4 wheel drive trucks, including one with a motorized plow, blower on front and a 4 wheel drive Subaru. Nick and 2 others of group had to be at the law enforcement academy Monday morning. They goofed off Saturday night and tried to leave sunday morning but found drifts 5 ft high and blizzard conditions. The plow on truck broke early on. It was Monday morning before they finally got the 3 miles back off the ice. They and several hundred others got caught by surprise out in the ice houses. It took a lot of people and a lot of work to get everyone rescued. Last I heard the local Deputies were still ferrying supplies to those who were willing to be last in line to get off the ice. The 3 LEO students, made it to class and he sent a photo of snow drifted clear up part way on the classroom windows, a distance of over 5 ft. I'm just glad everyone ESP my son are safe. Oh, and the kid got an A on his latest exam at the academy!
Velda

[snowball]

glad all are safe in the wild weather stuff... there was s post from a weather man up in SLC who used to be in Oregon a picture that had been sent to him the ski hill on MT Shasta was closed too much snow haha... the seats of the ski lift were covered with snow... amazing the amount of snow that can drop from the sky ... and in areas too much in others not much. my brother lives in Wy on one side of a mountain works on the other side of the mountain so he drove to Denver to see a couple of his kids... so I am assuming that the pass was closed on that day or two....
be safe out there
sheila

[Colliemom]

The National Weather Service Office here in Gaylord issued a Blizzard Warning 24 before be storm arrived, so we had enough time to prepare and be ready. Our local forecasters on TV had also been talking about the storm for most of the latter part of last week. It’s those who don’t pay attention to weather warnings or think they are no big deal who get themselves in trouble. Glad your son and his friends made it out safely Velda.