It was a hundred-year storm. Thin trees snapped like matchsticks; thick ones toppled, one atop another, like felled soldiers. The storm’s straight-wind blast left houses with gaping holes, thousands of residents with no power for days, a Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore that is, said one official, unrecognizable, and a cleanup that could take years.
In case you missed the Glen Lake Association’s post-storm workshop on Aug. 29, you can watch the following video of the workshop. Also, listed below are some highlights and suggested guidelines, compiled by watershed biologist Rob Karner, for your review and consideration.
What trees, plants and animals will repopulate the area of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore that was decimated by the Aug. 2 megastorm — particularly Alligator Hill? We asked that question of the National Lakeshore’s chief of natural resources, Kevin Skerl.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS) website, conditions on Aug. 2 were ripe for something big to happen. “Northern Michigan experienced a complex severe weather setup,” it reports, “which began with a warm front lifting northward from southern Michigan toward the Straits of Mackinac and into the eastern Upper Peninsula.”
“It’s hard seeing all the trees broken,” comments Dianne Nichols of Arbor Pines. “It reminds me of broken legs and broken arms.” Nichols and her husband, Fred, are among numerous Glen Arborites whose woods suffered from the Aug. 2 storm. The second week after the storm, a team of seven retirees from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) of Michigan arrived to help those who, like the Nichols, had applied for that help at the Glen Arbor Township Hall. Afterwards, Dianne describes them and the work they did.
There are as many stories from the megastorm that hit Glen Arbor on Aug. 2 as there were people touched by it. This is the story of a local law enforcement ranger who survived a very near miss in the first moments of the storm and then without hesitation went back to work protecting the lives of others.
Glen Arbor needs help — hired help, the kind that works for wages. Although the community turned itself inside out to help one another after the recent superstorm, the devastation left in its wake after the tree and power line pros left highlights a pre-existing problem. We who are of a certain age (and I do speak for myself) need young, able-bodied workers — desperately.
From staff reports “My goal is to get a lot of people thinking differently about the “connections among nature, what we eat and what we are.” — Lisa M. Rose, author, wild food activist and educator, who lives in Grand Rapids. Rose’s newly released book, Midwest Foraging; 115 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Burdock to […]
Sun co-editor Mike Buhler took these photos of the destruction to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Glen Arbor area following the Aug. 2 megastorm.
Many Leelanau homeowners are hoping the governor’s state of disaster proclamation following the Aug. 2 megastorm will help fund their debris cleanup. Unfortunately, they may find those hopes dashed, especially if they expect financial help any time soon.