EMMET COUNTY — The people of Emmet County are some of the thousand severely impacted by this weeks historic ice storms.
While power is still out in many areas, the city of Petoskey is one of the few to have almost all its power restored where those who were affected are now helping those who need it.
With families and friends struggling to stay warm and fed, the community has stepped up with a helping hand.
In fact, simply looking at the Petoskey Chamber of Commerce Facebook page produces dozens of businesses coming together to help people who need it.
Restaurants are offering warm food and drinks, and the library has reopened with full power, for anyone who may need to warm up and charge their phones.
“It’s nice that the library is open because it can find a warm place to come. It’s really bustling here right now, which is cool,” said Mary Beauchamp, adult services librarian at the Petoskey District Library.
The library also has food bags for people to take home, but that is something they do every week, not just now.
Polished on Main in Harbor Springs is even letting people shower and do laundry on the premises.
“I have my spa room open, and it has a shower, and I can provide everything but towels for somebody,” Polished on Main owner Nikki Law said. “We do have two washers and dryers in the basement. So people can come in, and they can charge their phones. I have coffee, water. They can do some laundry, take a shower, whatever they need. ”
While much of Petoskey has returned to some sense of normal, much of Emmet County is not so lucky.
Law was one of those people, but once she had power back in her salon, she decided to give back to the community that helped her.
“I had a friend of mine who extended a shower when we were without power for about two days, “ Law said. ”So it was really, really great to be able to take a hot shower, and kind of reset through all of us. So I figured if I could open up to somebody like that, that would be helpful. "