Rain turns to ice, cuts power in Great Lakes region while Tennessee braces for wild weather

Freezing rain brought down trees and power lines in Michigan and Wisconsin, cutting electricity for thousands of people Sunday in the upper Great Lakes region, while forecasters said severe weather was on its way to Tennessee.

Winds topping 70 mph (112 kph) were possible for the middle of Tennessee, with a chance of tornadoes as well as hail as large as 2 inches (5 centimeters) Sunday night, the National Weather Service said.

“Have your safe place cleaned out just in case,” forecasters said on social platform X.

More than 400,000 power outages were reported in Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. Churches that had power, as well as schools and fire halls, were turned into warming centers as utilities worked to restore electricity, a job that will likely stretch into Monday in small communities and rural pockets.

The Weather Service office in Gaylord, Michigan, was in the middle of it, saying on X: “Accumulations range here from a half inch to nearly a whole inch of ice!”

Despite the calendar showing spring, “it's still winter,” said Ryan Brege, managing director of the Alpena County, Michigan, Road Commission, 250 miles (402 kilometers) north of Detroit.

Alpena Power said nearly all of its 16,750 customers — homes and businesses — were in the dark. Many churches without power in Wisconsin and Michigan were forced to cancel Sunday services.

"We pray that everyone stays safe!” said Calvary Lutheran Church in Merrill, Wisconsin.

Jesika Fox said she and her husband drove more than 40 minutes from their home in Alpena, Michigan, to find fuel for a generator. Her family lost power Saturday night but kept the house warm by using a fan to circulate heat from a gas-burning stove.

“We just passed a veterinary clinic. The entire front corner of the building was taken out by a tree,” said Fox, 36.

Sarah Melching, emergency services manager in nearby Presque Isle County, said virtually the entire county — population 13,200 — has no power.

“There are trees still falling down. It’s kind of ruthless out there,” Melching said.

Authorities in South Carolina reported progress Sunday in controlling wildfires in the Blue Ridge mountains. The Table Rock and Persimmon Ridge fires have burned about 17 square miles (44 square kilometers). Mandatory evacuations were ordered Saturday for some residents of Greenville County.

“Thank you for the prayers. They’re being heard. There’s rain in the air," said Derrick Moore, operations chief for the firefighting Southern Area Blue Team.