When a large tree hit David Willis’s home on M-32 in Alpena County, he heard a huge “boom!”

“I knew what it was,” Willis said. “It felt like a cannon went off, but I thought ‘Oh mercy, I hope it didn’t puncture the roof.'”

His power went out, and he took shelter with nearby family members. He is still waiting to see the full extent of the damage.

Spruce resident Jenny Stanczyk lives back in the woods, surrounded by trees. Her power came back on early Tuesday morning. She reflected on the experience.

Courtesy Photo A large tree fell onto David Willis’s home on M-32 in Alpena County during the ice storm that started Saturday evening and left thousands without power in Northeast Michigan.

“It reminded me a bit of COVID,” Stanczyk said. “It wasn’t anything anybody wished for, but it might’ve helped us see some things we needed. Like reaching out to our neighbors, slowing down, and helping one another.”

Alpena resident Stephanie Shafto said they stayed in their home as long as they could.

“We stayed in our house with blankets and layers until it was down to 48 degrees,” Shafto said. Then, they went to a friend’s house. “They had heat from a wood stove but no water, and we had water with no heat. They also had their in-laws staying there, too, plus pets. We charged devices at the airport.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Shafto said, “Our power is back on, but our friend doesn’t have water yet, so we’re still hauling water out to them twice a day.”

Sid Hausding was out cutting and clearing tree branches covering his yard and driveway on 3rd Avenue in Alpena following the storm.

Although his yard was covered in downed branches, he said he was “very lucky” because no huge branches damaged his home.

“I have one branch around the corner that fell and leaned up against the house,” he said. “I’ve got a couple pine trees in the back, and their branches landed on the roof, but they’re small.”

He has 26 trees in his yard, situated on three-and-a-half city lots.

“I have more trees than most people,” he said. “The wind got to me when the ice landed and froze on all the limbs. If you look at the tops of the trees, it looks like a bomb went off, and it literally stripped all of the smaller branches right off.”

His power came back on around 7:30 p.m. on Monday night, but he was using a generator prior to that.

“I had driven down to Bay City yesterday morning to get a generator,” he said on Tuesday afternoon. “I had called ahead, and they had a couple in stock, so I drove like a maniac to get down there.”

He added that gas stations in Harrisville had power on Monday.

“The funny thing about it is, for the last two weeks, I’ve had this premonition,” Hausding said. “And I’ve always wanted a generator. I did a lot of construction a long time ago, and we’ve always kept one so that we could power our tools. We didn’t have cordless tools back then. I retired and got rid of most of my construction equipment, but the last several years, I’ve been thinking, ‘You know, we’re overdue for a good one.'”

He said the branches started coming down on Saturday evening, and continued through Sunday morning.

“I was like, ‘What the hell?’ I love trees,” he said. “I lost a couple limbs out back. My cherry tree is half gone. The apple trees made it.”

Hausding said the last time he recalls a bad storm in Alpena was 2016. He has lived in the same home on 3rd Avenue for 27 years.

“In the 25 years we’ve lived in Lost Lake Woods, we have never seen a storm like this,” said Ted Fines, a resident of the gated community surrounded by trees in Lincoln. “I’ve never seen it so bad. We have a 100-year-old pine tree that got stripped naked.”

He and his wife, Chris, have been using a generator to provide power to their home, but they did not have internet or phone service as of Tuesday afternoon. He was able to talk on his cell phone for a few minutes while it charged in his vehicle.

“It’s discouraging to see this,” Fines said on Tuesday. “Now, we’re expecting three to five inches of snow tomorrow. This is going to get really nail-biting.”

He added that their area received at least six inches of ice, which was pulling on limbs and breaking them off trees.

“The number of branches that came down in Lost Lake Woods is astounding,” Fines said, adding that hearing the trees cracking during the storm was “incredible” and “bizarre.”

“It’s scary, to a degree,” he said. “These branches were coming straight down. You could hear the cracking.”

He added that it’s a very dangerous situation, and anyone standing under one of those limbs could be badly injured or killed.

“We saw a maple tree crumbling right in front of us,” Fines said.

He is concerned that more life-threatening weather could continue.

“I feel for our kids when I see these extreme weather patterns in Northern Michigan,” he added.

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com, or call 989-358-5691.