DETROIT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency, and nearly 49,000 energy company customers in northern Michigan were without power Monday, days after an historic ice storm knocked out power to at least 90,000 in that area.

The emergency declaration aims "to get help out the door as fast as possible for Michiganders hit by the ice storm,” she said in a statement. “Yesterday, I activated our State Emergency Operations Center to coordinate our response. State and local emergency teams are already on the ground, and we will continue collaborating with local first responders too. I want to thank everyone working hard to keep people safe. We will get through this together.”

The declaration was declared for Otsego, Oscoda, Montmorency, Presque Isle, Emmet, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Mackinac and Alpena counties.

“Our Northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula counties have received unprecedented damage over the weekend from a historic ice storm,” said U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman in the statement from Whitmer's office. “I’m grateful Governor Whitmer has declared this important State of Emergency and appreciate the resources the Emergency Operations Center has already provided to our First District counties. We cannot express in words how thankful we are for all of the hard work of all of our linemen and First Responders doing everything they can to help our communities.”

As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, the Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op said it had 32,376 customers without power. The Alpena Power Co. said it had 16,447 customers in the dark as of 12:30 p.m.

Sunday night, Ken Dragiewicz, Alpena Power Co.'s president and COO, issued a statement about the power outage.

"Around midnight on Saturday, March 29, an outage occurred at an ITC substation that provides service to Alpena Power Company in Alpena, Michigan," he said. "The outage was a result of an initial wave of ice storms that impacted northern Michigan. Service was temporarily restored at 7 a.m. Sunday morning; however, a subsequent outage occurred at 9:19 a.m. and is still ongoing due to a second wave of wintery mix and thunderstorms. We are working closely with Alpena Power Company to restore power to the affected areas as promptly and safely as possible and as weather conditions allow."

On Monday, he said all of Alpena Power Company’s customers remained without power due to the effects of the weekend ice storms.

"APC is expecting to have its interconnection with the regional electric transmission system restored mid-afternoon on Monday, at which point we will immediately begin restoring power to essential services," he said.

National Weather Service meteorologists at the agency's Gaylord office said Monday's cooler temperatures and blustery conditions are going to make the effects of Sunday's ice storm even worse.

They said the forecast calls for snow to move out of northern Michigan on Monday morning as gusty northwest winds move in and linger throughout the day, keeping temperatures cold. Winds may reach speeds of 15 to 25 mph, and temperatures are expected to remain at or below freezing across most of the region on Monday, they said.

"Existing ice on trees and powerlines make them more susceptible to falling," they said.

The cold will remain through the overnight hours, the service said.

Before noon Monday, state police said both directions of Interstate 75 are closed in Gaylord. They also said M-32 is closed, and roadways remain impassable north of it.

Furthermore, authorities said thousands of trees are down as are many power lines.

"Do not travel for any reason unless it is a true emergency," state police officials warned. "Please stay home to stay safe."

Officials for Gaylord Public Schools announced Monday that they were closing their buildings Tuesday and Wednesday due to the weather and power outages.

MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena officials said Sunday that the facility has been operating on electric generators since Saturday. They said the center has about six days of generator fuel on hand, and the staff is actively monitoring the situation. They also said its Hospital Incident Command Center is fully activated and staffed to manage the situation.

"MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena is providing safe inpatient and emergency care to our patients," Hunter Nostrant, MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena's president, said in a statement. "The Emergency Department remains open for care, and individuals with any health concerns that cannot be delayed should call 9-1-1 or go to the Emergency Department for immediate care."

Officials for the center also said all scheduled elective outpatient procedures and office appointments for Monday will be rescheduled. They said the staff is contracting patients with appointments.

In Alpena, Sunday's high temperature reached 34 degrees, about 10 degrees colder than normal, according to the weather service data.

It also saw 1.06 inches of precipitation, setting a new record for rainfall, the agency said. The previous record of 0.77 inches was set on March 29, 2009.

Further north, the weather service's office in Marquette said the Upper Peninsula can expect temperatures in the upper 20s and upper 30s on Monday. The region can expect mostly cloudy skies Monday morning, and they'll get sunny as drier air moves in. Lows at night will plummet into the single digits on the peninsula's interior west side, they said.

Things don't look like they're going to warm up for a while, either. The weather service's office in Gaylord said another round of a wintry mix, including freezing rain, is expected Tuesday night and into Wednesday, overlapping in areas that already bore the brunt of the weekend storm.

Tuesday's high temperature in Gaylord will be about 33 degrees, with a low of about 24. A warm-up is expected to start Wednesday when the mercury should reach a high of 40.

Meanwhile, storms also affected areas near Metro Detroit.

Officials with the weather service's office in White Lake Township said an early season squall line developed over Illinois Sunday afternoon and tracked northeast across southern Lower Michigan by evening.

They said the line of storms had winds with gusts of 60 to 70 mph. Officials said they clocked one gust at about 96 mph at the Jackson County Airport.

"There were numerous reports of uprooted trees and property damage, and at least 35,000 customers were left without power, according to local news reports," the agency said in a statement. "Parts of Southeast Michigan that were particularly hard hit were within Shiawassee, Genesee, Saginaw, Washtenaw and Wayne counties."

Unlike in northern Michigan, temperatures in Metro Detroit aren't expected to be as cruel. Monday's forecast for Detroit calls for a high of 46 degrees and a low of 28 degrees. After a slight dip on Tuesday, warm weather in Detroit rebounds on Wednesday with a high of 66 degrees, a high of 68 on Thursday, followed by a drop down to 57 degrees on Friday. Rain is expected on Wednesday and Thursday.

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