IONIA, Mich: The high winds took down trees and power lines across the state. Consumers Energy is working on restoring power to more than 80,000 customers. Something that can't be restored, however, is that beloved willow.
"I take pictures of it every year, because I say it's the weeping willow tree my dad planted, so it's sentimental," Neighbor Polly Misner said.
Misner's parents planted it 40 years ago.
"It was a piece of a log with a stem sticking out of it and they put it in the ground with a bucket of water and said 'oh, let's see what happens,'" Misner said.
But on Friday afternoon, it came crashing down.
"I was right up against the garage when it came down, i couldn't move because it was coming right at me," Misner said.
Fortunately, she wasn't hurt.
"I could see that I was far enough back where I wasn't going to get hit, but the debris from the tree I had it all over my hair," Misner said.
Similar to another tree on her street, she said the willow was also marked for removal.
"They've been marked for two years, so and we've called three or four times for sparking wires and limbs that have come down," Misner said.
Although the tree is gone, her family memories will remain.
"I posted on it that it will weep no more," Misner said.
The spokesperson for Consumer's Energy said the tree fell 50 feet and across the street from the primary electrical lines, which is beyond the company's standards for removing a tree for electric reliability work. They said the markings were not done by Consumer's Energy crews.
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