CHIPPEWA COUNTY — Central Dispatch and the Emergency Management Center in Chippewa County was prepared for the storm by having a full staff on duty.
The center, located in Kincheloe, provides dispatch services to Chippewa, Luce and Mackinac counties.
Luce County had a blizzard warning, while Chippewa and Mackinac counties had winter storm warnings.
The warnings brought multiple challenges as 9-1-1 calls came in for cars in ditches, power outages and medical emergencies.
Dispatch Director Greg Postma said the center heavily utilized social media to get the word out about staying off the roads and people listened.
“We’ve always said during Emergency Management issues or incidents that social media cuts both ways. It is a great tool and we do get a lot of our information pushed out to the public but it also cuts the other way,” Postma said. “We do see a lot of people out there who are putting information that isn’t necessarily true.”