News photo by Josh Jambor Piles of brush sit on the side of a street in Alpena, as the still standing trees remain covered with ice. Nearly everywhere you go in Alpena, you can see the fallout of the ice storm that struck the area on Sunday night and into Monday.

ALPENA — Residents in Northeast Michigan should be able to see the ice and snow begin to melt today, but there are still many days and even weeks of cleanup and storm recovery ahead.

Harold Dippman, meteorologist from the National Weather Service (NWS) Gaylord, predicts that the ice will be completely melted off power lines and trees by the weekend.

In Alpena and farther south in Alcona, temperatures will reach the low forties to mid forties in some places by Friday, Dippman said.

How efficiently the ice will melt will be determined by the dew point, he said. A dew point over 32 degrees is ideal to speed up the melting process. The dew point on Friday is predicted to cross that threshold between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., according to the NWS forecast.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday 62% of Alpena Power Company (APC) customers have been restored leaving approximately 6,425 customers without power, according to a press release from APC.

APC President Ken Dragiewicz said that the number of outages peaked at around 14,500, as compared to last year when a total grid outage occurred for two days. Restoration progress was initially slow this year due to storm conditions and time lapse before contract and mutual aid crews arrived.

All available crews are working to restore outages with assistance from a total 37 contract and mutual aid crews in the restoration effort. Crews are working around the clock, with most of the work being completed between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., Dragiewicz said.

Tuesday afternoon all rural substations were restored by 9 p.m. Tuesday night and 32 out of 38 main circuits have been energized. APC is actively working to restore power in nearly all areas of their service territory, according to the press release.

The restoration process is designed to get essential services energized first then the largest number of customers on as quickly as possible. APC’s process consists of five stages:

1. Essential functions such as hospitals, 911, police, fire, water, sewer, etc.

2. Services such as fuel, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc.

3. Main feeder and distribution lines

4. Areas with the largest number of customers

5. Restore individual homes.

APC is currently in phase four in and around the City of Alpena and will be moving into phase five later Wednesday and Thursday. Rural areas are between phase three and four depending on location. The hardest hit areas around Ossineke, Hubbard Lake, and Spruce will have the longest outages likely lasting to late this week or in some cases this weekend, according to the press release.

Stay informed using Alpena Power’s outage center at https://www.alpenapower.com/outage-center/.

If you are in need, please check local media outlets and social media of Alpena County, Alpena Public Schools, and other local resources for lists of warming shelters and resources for help.

The Merchant’s building at the Alpena County Fairgrounds will be open overnight but doors close at 9 p.m. so please be in by 9 p.m. if you have any need.

Alpena Township Hall on 4385 U.S.-23 North will be open Sunday through Monday, 24 hours. Walk-ins will be accepted, no documentation required, no fees.

“As we begin the third day of storm recovery, I want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding and the community for their support,” Dragiewicz said in the press release.

The merchant’s building at the fair grounds has been well used over the last few days.

Alpena County Administrator Jesse Osmer said that there were 25-40 people overnight and 20-35 at a time warming up during the day and using the charging stations. He also said that they served breakfast to between 25 and 30 people Wednesday morning.

The warming shelter operations are still planned to cease on March 31, Osmer said. Daytime operations will likely last through today and possibly through the weekend depending on how many households remain without power at that time.

Osmer said there has been discussion about opening a debris collection site again, but the timeline is yet to be determined. It cannot be opened until the ice starts thawing. He estimated that it may be a week or two before collection can start. The debris collection location could change from last year, where it was located at a site off of Airport Road, but that is yet to be determined, he said.

Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said that Alpena Public Schools will be closed for the remainder of the week. Staff and students have reported not being able to get out of their driveways due to snow, ice, or fallen trees and power lines. He drove around the district on Wednesday and said that the area around Sanborn Elementary was hit the hardest.

He described the snow on the ground as “like concrete”.

“Cleaning up the ground is challenging right now,” Rabbideau said. “It’s pretty hard on the equipment.”

The doors to many of the buildings are frozen shut, and many of the buses are frozen to the parking lot. Buses also have iced over emergency exits, windows, and doors. Transportation staff spent much of Wednesday trying to work the buses free. The bus drivers with usable buses drove their routes and reported a lot of downed trees and wires that would make transportation unsafe.

Rabbideau said that the damage seems about the same as last year but with a greater impact in the southern part of the district.

All the schools have power back, but there is still work to do in and around facilities to get them ready for students to come back.

A few days will likely need to be tagged on to the end of the school year, Rabbideau said. The last day is scheduled for June 10, a Wednesday, at the moment.

The last day will probably be changed to June 12 due to the number of snow days the district accumulated prior to the 2026 ice storm. The district is allowed six cancellations and three additional cancellations can be waived. Beyond that, instructional days have to be added to the calendar. APS had called 11 snow days prior to Sunday’s storm.

The ice storm could potentially cause school to be extended into the week of June 15, unless legislation is passed to waive ice storm related closures, as was the case during the 2025 ice storm.

“I anticipate some relief on the days like last year,” Rabbideau said.