Barron Lake area residents cleaning up storm debris

CASS COUNTY, Mich. -- Residents in the Barron Lake area in Michigan got their power back sooner than expected. Residents are glad to have power back, but are still working hard to clean up the mess left behind from the storm.



Kevin Wall has been busy clearing storm debris.

He learned Tuesday morning a massive tree almost crushed his grandfather's home.

"He told me I had a little work to do, so I'm thinking, maybe a branch fell. I get here and 300 foot trees are down," said Wall.



The tree is cracked and leaning, but so far, it hasn't come crashing down.



Wall lost power for about twelve hours, so now it's a matter of getting a handle on all the damage left behind.



"It was just so much worse than everyone thought," said Wall.



"You have trees that are literally uprooted, not just broken," said Brian Bergsma, AEP Indiana Michigan Power.



Bergsma says 900 out-of-state workers were brought in to help with the cleanup. A massive undertaking they haven't dealt with in years.



"Ninety poles that have been broken. That is significant when you talk about the restoration process. It's not merely put a line back up, it's putting a new pole in - taking the old pole out," said Bergsma.



Which means it will be another couple of days for thousands of their customers before they get power back.



Crews are working around the clock to ensure the power is back on by Saturday.