Courtesy Photo People are seen in line for breakfast at Alcona Elementary School on Wednesday. The school is open as a warming shelter for Alcona County residents through the weekend.

LINCOLN — The 2026 ice storm hit Alcona County much harder than in 2025 and school was closed all week, Alcona Community Schools Superintendent Dan O’ Connor said.

Last year’s ice storm only impacted the northern and western parts of Alcona County, he said, but this year the ice impacted the entire county.

On Monday morning, 93.8% of Alcona County was without power. As of 3 p.m. Thursday, 64.2% of the county was without power, according to Consumers Energy.

O’Connor said the district is up to 16 snow days though they were at 11 snow days before the ice storm. School districts in Michigan can cancel six days of school without penalty. If they rack up nine cancellations, they can apply for a waiver of three days. Any days above nine have to be made up, with many schools choosing to add days to the end of the school year.

O’Connor said that the district will need to add days no matter what. Their current last day of school is scheduled for June 4. He said the school board will soon decide whether to apply for a waiver for three days.

He is hopeful that legislation to forgive cancellations for the 2026 ice storm will be proposed and passed like last year, and that the process will be quicker. It was not until May that districts were assured forgiveness in 2025.

“This threw a significant curve ball,” O’Connor said about the ice storm.

He made the decision on Wednesday to close Alcona schools for the remainder of the week. He described the road conditions as poor with downed trees, powerlines, and ice everywhere. Alcona’s bus drivers drove their routes Wednesday and found it would be unsafe to have buses on the roads.

“There are too many unknowns to move forward with school on Thursday or Friday,” O’Connor said.

The power turned back on at the schools on Tuesday. Alcona Elementary School is being used as a daytime and overnight warming shelter with charging stations. It will be open through the weekend.

Red Fork, a restaurant in Alcona County, helped serve a community breakfast at the school on Wednesday and Thursday. O’Connor said that throughout the day, about 20 or so people have been at the school warming up, and there have been six to 12 people consistently sleeping there every night.

The school also passed out food and water that were delivered in pallets through a partnership with Alcona County and Consumers Energy on Thursday.

“We’re a community school and it’s our job to step up in situations like this,” O’Connor said. “We’re doing what we can to support the residents of Alcona County.”

O’Connor said there is quite a bit of clean up to do around the schools. There was water in the school buildings in a number of spots, and there is a lot of tree damage around the schools. The ice began to melt Thursday, slowly but surely.

While the northern part of the county does not have power yet, O’Connor said he fully intends for school to be back in session on Monday, and is excited to welcome students back and regain a sense of normalcy.

Reagan Voetberg. News Staff Writer. rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.