Lynn Marshall-Hintz and her husband Ron were headed north on I-75 on March 30 and looking forward to spending a few days at their Northern Michigan cabin.

It was a trip the Sterling Heights residents have made hundreds of times.

“We typically stop in West Branch for gas and then go the rest of the trip,” said Marshall-Hintz. “We had enough gas to get to the cabin, so we thought we would stop later, but every gas station north of West Branch did not have power.”

Unbeknownst to them, a major ice storm had swept across northern Michigan the night before from Petoskey to Alpena leaving much of the area without power and knocking down several trees and utility poles.

“We were on M-32 heading to the cabin and we kept getting rerouted because the road was blocked by trees and downed power wires,” said Marshall-Hintz. “At that point, I was starting to get really nervous about having enough gas.

“When we pulled into the drive leading to our property, we only had 20 miles worth of gas left.”

Like many of the roads around Gaylord, Atlanta, Millersburg and Hillman, the road leading to their cabin was impassable due to trees and large branches that had fallen due to the heavy ice. After the long drive, made longer by multiple detours, they had no choice but to walk the last mile to their cabin.

They grabbed some bare essentials and started trekking through the debris with their dog.

“You could hear the ice rattling in the trees because it was windy and then you would hear branches crashing down; I’ve never experienced anything like it,” said Marshall-Hintz.

For several hours, local law enforcement advised residents to shelter in place due to the danger of falling branches.

Fortunately, the couple made it to the cottage where they had a generator and were able to stay warm and cook food. But they were stuck at the cabin until someone could come with a chainsaw to clear the road and bring gas for them to put into their Ford Bronco so they could get to a local station and fill up.

That didn’t happen until three days later.

“There is a man in town who watches over us older folks like a son,” said Marshall-Hintz. “He came and it took five and a half hours to get our road cleared of trees.

“We were OK and we had food and everything we needed, but there was still a sense of entrapment.”

Their friend was able to put enough gas into their truck to get them to Millersburg where the fuel station had power.

“We are home safe and sound by the grace of God,” Marshall-Hintz said.

Presque Isle Electric & Gas announced that as of 8 a.m. April 10, 72% of customers had their power restored after starting the week at 1%. More than 1,260 miles of power lines have been restored by the power company and while 25,211 customers have had power restored, there are still 9.789 in the dark.

More than 1,114 utility poles have been replaced in the past 12 days. During the course of a year, PIEG typically replaces 500 poles in the course of their scheduled replacement plan.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Incident Management Team Public Information Officer Patrick Ertel said the damage and devastation is difficult to describe.

“A lot of people have said it reminds them of what you see in the aftermath of a hurricane,” said Ertel. “The ice was so heavy that on many of the hills, trees have been pulled up and are just laying there with their root balls exposed.”

Ertel said the night of the storm when he stepped outside, he could hear the constant pop and crash as tree branches fell to the ground and later, the wind clattering through the icy branches.

The DNR has posted drone video on their Facebook page showing an area of the Pigeon River State Forest where ice has completely broken off treetops making the area look like a field of sticks.

“Our main focus has been clearing access for public safety, especially to communication system towers,” said Ertel. “At this point, we have 660 miles of road cleared and open.”

Michigan Public Safety Communications System towers are essential for 911 dispatching, state and local law enforcement, fire departments, hospitals, and other public safety agencies. All 13 cellular towers assigned to the team have also been cleared.

For the past two weeks, Ertel said it has been all hands on deck to try and clear debris, repair power lines and make sure people have access to emergency services. Michigan Task Force 1 has 19 crews working in the areas impacted by the ice storm, many staffed by local first responders.

Warren firefighters Capt. Hans Sievert, fire equipment operator Rick Breen, and firefighter-paramedics Chrisopher Lipka and Colvin Taylor are all stationed in Gaylord with Michigan Task Force 1. Probationary firefighter-paramedic Anthony Bonnet is working as a reservist in the Michigan National Guard.

“Their primary assignment is helping to clear trees off the main roads and roads leading to private property,” said Warren Fire Commissioner Wilbert “Skip” McAdams. “They are making sure people can get out, get their vehicles out and ensure that someone has made contact with these people that may have been without power for several days.

“I didn’t realize it was this bad; as much progress as they have made, there is still a lot more to do.”

The DNR has an interactive map showing which roads have been cleared in real time at michigan.gov/icestorm.

The DNR Incident Management Team is continuing work in Emmet, Cheboygan, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego and Presque Isle, areas particularly hard hit by last week’s storm.

“This has been a great effort by a lot of different entities working together,” said Ertel. “When everyone gathers to talk after the workday is done, every single person talks about the people here.

“There is still more work to do.”