Governor Gretchen Whitmer has deployed the Michigan National Guard to provide more personnel and specialized equipment to help with ice storm recovery efforts in northern Michigan.
The governor made the order on Tuesday, and we’re hearing about some National Guard staff from Southwest Michigan who have been called up. The governor’s office says the National Guard will team up with utility companies to clear roads, keep people safe, and help first responders get to where they need to go as they work to restore power.
As of Wednesday, there were many residents of the northern Lower Peninsula who were without power since Sunday. Whitmer says state and local emergency teams are on the ground. She also signed some executive orders adding Alcona and Antrim counties to a state of emergency declaration issued on Monday. The declaration authorizes the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division to coordinate state efforts above and beyond what the MSP had already been doing in conjunction with local agencies.
Our national guardsmen from Southwest Michigan will be mostly working to clear roads for electric companies to reach areas hit by the ice storm.
