ALPENA — The Alpena News and other downtown businesses currently have no power due to an ice storm causing power outages across Alpena County and surrounding areas. Because of the outage, there will be no paper on Monday.

A press release from Alpena Power Company this afternoon stated that nearly all of Alpena Power Company’s customers are currently without power due to the ongoing ice storm. The storm impacted the power company’s system as well as the regional transmission grid, resulting in two system-wide outages.

Alpena Power Company continues to utilize all available resources including their own personnel, mutual aid assistance, contract crews, and tree-clearing crews to restore outages and will continue to work throughout the storm and until all customers are back in service.

Restoration will be prioritized in the following manner:

Isolate hazards and make safe.

Restore essential functions such as hospitals, medical facilities, police, fire, etc.

Restore essential services such as fuel, food, etc.

Repair main feeder and distribution lines.

Restore areas with largest number of customers.

Restore individual homes.

The power company reminds residents to not approach or engage with line crews working to restore power. If using a generator, ensure it is connected properly and legally with a transfer switch so it cannot back feed into the power lines and cause danger to crews or the public. The power company states that people should stay at least 25 feet away from downed wires and anything they are touching, and report the issue by calling 911 and Alpena Power Company at 989-358-4900.

As of 3 p.m. today, of the 16,617 Alpena Power Company customers affected, 186 had been restored.

The power company is working diligently to restore service as soon as possible and resources from outside of the area have been deployed.

In addition, City of Alpena offices will be closed on Monday. Emergency services such as police, fire, and EMS are available as normal. The City of Alpena is encouraging residents to shelter in place in order to stay safe and protected from the elements.

Currently, there are no emergency shelters established, but updates will be given as more information is available.

If you have an emergency, call 911.

According to the National Weather Service, freezing rain will continue today and tonight, especially east of U.S.-131 and north of M-72. An ice storm warning is in effect until 11 p.m. tonight. The rain is expected to turn to snow by Monday morning.

Check back for updates.