ROSCOMMON COUNTY — Roscommon County officials declared a local state of emergency Monday to secure additional state resources. At that time, 87% of the county were without power. The declaration follows a severe winter storm that utility officials described as the worst weather event in the state so far in 2026.
The emergency declaration allows for more state assets to assist in restoration efforts following a combination of high winds and heavy icing that began Sunday night. While Consumers Energy has restored power to 90,000 people across Michigan, northern regions remain the primary focus of recovery as crews deal with fresh outages.
The current outage rate of 82% is a slight improvement from the 87% reported on Monday. Local officials said the demand for restoration was so critical that Consumers Energy moved a mobile command unit from Gaylord to Houghton Lake on Monday. The unit had been staged in Gaylord because that was where the ice storm was originally predicted to hit, but it was relocated once the impact in Houghton Lake became more apparent.Jeff Dickey, executive director of emergency preparedness for Consumers Energy, said the storm was a complex meteorological event. “This is the worst storm we’ve seen by far in 2026,” Dickey said. “It was kind of a three pattern weather event with the winds that happened last Friday, the icing on Sunday, followed by the high winds right behind it.”Consumers Energy has also established a second mobile command unit in Cadillac in Wexford County to help manage the workload. Dickey said these units are essential for field operations and coordination. “It allows us take what on a regular day we would do from our dispatch and grid operations offices and move out into the field, making our span control smaller, very quick communication times with our crews in the field back to here,” Dickey said. “It just helps us coordinate all of our efforts. It reduces travel time. It allows us to respond quicker.”More than 600 utility crews have been moved into northern Michigan to handle the restoration. While many were moved proactively before the storm, another 100 crews arrived Monday from as far away as West Virginia. State-wide, Consumers Energy reported that power has been restored to 90,000 customers.Vanessa Varma, director of Roscommon County Emergency Management, said local emergency services are currently focused on clearing roads of trees and downed power lines. This work is being done in coordination with utility teams. “Making sure that all the lines are tagged and marked for road crews,” Varma said. “Our dispatch center has had well more than 1,500 calls. I think we’re up to 1,800 calls since the storm started Saturday night. We average 90 per hour.” Under normal conditions, the center averages five calls per hour.Beyond road clearing, the county is providing direct support to residents affected by the outages. Varma said warming centers have been opened throughout the county. “We’ve been trying to get water and food brought in,” Varma said. “Working with the state on getting a declaration, a shared, but ultimately, the life safety measures have been the priority.”Varma said new information is being released frequently to keep the public informed. “Just follow us on social media if you’re not already,” Varma said. “Roscommon County Emergency Management, because that’s where we’re posting a lot of information and I know it’s being shared out, but that’s a good point to get information from.”