Northern Michigan school districts forced into extended shutdowns due to massive ice storms this past spring will have a waiver from minimum attendance mandates.

There are months of work ahead just to clear roads, an official with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says.

Fire danger is higher than normal across the entire Lower Peninsula and in the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula.

The state House is poised to vote on legislation to allocate 75 million dollars toward recovery efforts following massive ice storms across northern Michigan in March.

Budget woes hit the Detroit Downriver suburb of Ecorse, following the cougars of Michigan, upgrading the state's power grid and supply and updates on the damage caused by ice storms in the Upper Peninsula.

After a severe ice storm swept across Northern Michigan, and cleanup and recovery continues at homes and businesses, the Department of Natural Resources has closed some trails to protect people from falling tree detritus.

The governor also expanded a state of emergency declaration to add Alcona and Antrim counties as thousands are still without power.

Authorities say the risk of falling ice is too great to open the bridge.

Relief from a brutal ice storm — which left thousands without power across Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula — could be a few days off yet, according to forecasts.

After the weekend's ice storm and thunderstorms, Consumers Energy reported widespread outages. Consumers spokesperson Katie Carey joined Michigan Public for an update.