Story submitted by the Indiana Department of Transportation
When a catastrophic ice storm in late March caused widespread damage in northern Michigan, INDOT workers stepped up to help our neighbor. A crew of 45 employees spent a week clearing up the debris.
“It was amazing to see how many volunteers requested to help,” said INDOT Highway Maintenance Director (HMD) Justin Bednar. “We had so many that we could not take them all and had to create a backup list. People were so passionate about going; their emotions ran high because they really wanted to help.”
The ice storm damaged nearly 3 million acres of Michigan forests, affecting hundreds of state and county roads. After spending two weeks dealing with the fallout, the state of Michigan exercised the Emergency Management Assistant Compact (EMAC) process, which is a formal agreement between all U.S. states. As a result, INDOT deployed the 45-member crew.
“This was INDOT’s first activation as part of the EMAC,” said INDOT Statewide Emergency Planning and Response Director Mike Nichols. “All deployment costs are reimbursed by the requesting state. A Tippecanoe County Emergency Management Agency taskforce also was deployed to provide the crews breakfast and dinner.”
INDOT personnel left April 12 for northern Michigan and brought with them woodchippers, forestry mulchers, skid steers with grapples, loaders, a Gradall with a tree-limb shear, mini-excavators, backhoes, chainsaws, message boards, signs, and sign stands.
Looking out his vehicle on the trip up, Bednar suddenly noticed a change about 100 miles south of their destination.
“You could begin to see that trees were snapped at the tops, and there were large areas of downed pine,” said Bednar. “It was just devastating to see.”
For the next six days, INDOT crews worked 13-hour days from sunrise to sunset. They cleared four state highways, two county roads, four local roads, the Town Hall Highway, Grand Lake Highway, Metz Highway, and Long Lake Highway. All these roads lie within either Alpena, Montmorency, or Presque Isle counties.
Nichols was joined by INDOT Planning and Response Supervisor Rachel Greenwood and Project Supervisor Joe Ortiz in the emergency operations center, updating maps once trees were removed and routes cleared and opened.
Bednar and INDOT HMD Daniel Jones each led work crews.
Leaders of the route-clearance teams were Heavy Equipment Supervisors Jeff Sedam and Jason Caskey, as well as Unit Supervisors Steve Vogel and Robert Hamilton. Working hard in the field were Josh Neal, Dennis Gauger, Joe Barkdull, Lance McClelland, David Ashcraft, Greg Poulsen, Brannon Davis, Kurt Meyer, Bruce Senters, Robert Sliger, Gary Conn, Ryan Rapp, Ron Richardson, Trey Seban, James Wofford, Justin White, Jacob Sloop, Sam Sweet, Neal Knip, Matthew Deutscher, Frank Kammer, Jared McCord, Hunter Browning, Justin Gardner, Zachary Smith, Johnny Watts, Derin Nicely, Andrew Ritenour, James Wisley, Ameen Morris, Bryan Johnson, Trevor Wood, Kyle Shireman, Christopher Sommers, Corey Crase, and Luke Stigler.
The INDOT forces cut, chipped, and removed large trees from the right-of-way. Occasionally, the crews encountered broken limbs and treetops hanging over the road, so they used heavy equipment to remove them. In all, we cleared 160.6 lane miles.
“I met with the emergency managers of the three counties,” said Nichols. “They said without the assistance of the southern Michigan DOT crews and INDOT crews, their recovery would be close to five years.”
By the time INDOT arrived, the ice had melted, but snow covered many road shoulders. INDOT crews also endured high winds and rain.
“Each day, we cleared approximately 18 to 22 tandem-axle dump truck loads of wood chips and tree debris,” said Bednar. “When we arrived in Michigan on April 12, there were approximately 35,000 people still without power. When we left April 19, there was about 3,000 people without power.”
Among the 45-person crew were two mechanics for each district. They used a shop truck to help with equipment issues.
A Michigan DOT liaison who provided INDOT guidance told Bednar, Jones, and Nichols that our crews went above and beyond.
“The Michigan DOT representative noted that on many occasions, our workers would stop what they were doing to help locals, especially the elderly, clear debris from their front yards or driveways,” said Bednar. “These Michiganders were extremely appreciative of the crews being so neighborly.”