Board invites Snyder to tour storm damage

BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners would like Gov. Rick Snyder to follow Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s lead and view damage caused by Monday’s violent thunderstorm and tornado.

County board members unanimously agreed Wednesday to send a letter to Snyder, inviting him to tour the damage, including the devastated Little Girl’s Point area and the damage in Wakefield.

“It’s all the same storm,” Gogebic County Road Commission Engineer Darren Pionk told the county board, referring to the damage in neighboring Iron County, Wis.

Walker declared a state of emergency in eight northern Wisconsin counties and toured Saxon Harbor on Tuesday. The Wisconsin National Guard and all state agencies were authorized to help Iron County and the other affected northern counties, where clean-up and repair efforts will continue for months.

For Gogebic County, there has been no such emergency declaration, although damages from the storm are extensive.

The county board heard a report from Pionk on efforts to get the Point area reopened to traffic.

Pionk said residents from the Point to the Wisconsin line are basically stranded. Five people chose to be transported out in a boat, according to undersheriff Ross Solberg.

Pionk said work is being done on Lower Powers Road and Brace Road as alternative routes, with many private contractors involved. In an eight-mile stretch of Powers Road, there are 40 culverts, many of which must be repaired or replaced. The public is strongly advised to stay away to let the work get done, he said.

Much of Lake Road was washed out by the storm.

There is electricity, but no phone service at the Point, where most of the residents have elected to stay until they can get out.

“We’re thankful it (the storm) wasn’t on the Fourth of July weekend,” Pionk said. That’s the height of camping season both at the Point and Saxon Harbor.

Pionk described how a 150-foot stretch of Lake Road collapsed during the storm just after the highway department foreman had driven through it.

He also said Sheriff Peter Matonich was lucky to escape from his police vehicle when it was swept away into a hole.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will assess the situation on Monday, Pionk said.

County board chair Joe Bonovetz, of Bessemer, said he’d like to see Snyder declare a state of emergency for Gogebic County.

State Rep. Scott Dianda, D-Calumet, said he has been in touch with Snyder’s office about the storm.

“I am working to ensure that any resources our communities need to recover from this storm will get to them in a timely manner,” Dianda said.

Board members said they would also contact State Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba.