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19 people rescued from snowed-in home in Northern Michigan

LaBranche Tavern houses 19 people rescued from snowed-in home (WLUC)

SPALDING TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – Authorities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have rescued 19 members of a family who became marooned in a snowed-in cabin after a weekend blizzard swept the area.

The Menominee County Road Commission said a joint rescue team rescued 10 children and nine adults Monday from the cabin in Menominee County’s Spalding Township using an all-terrain vehicle. The rescued relatives ranged in age from 1 to 64.

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They had been there since Saturday. The cabin is located about 6 miles (10 kilometers) off the main road along an unplowed road that was buried under a 2-foot (0.60-meter) snowfall, WLUC-TV reported.

Road Commission Assistant Engineer Darrell Cass said a plow truck sent to the site got stuck before a grader freed it. That vehicle then got within a quarter-mile (0.40-kilometer) of the cabin and Emergency Medical Services took over and got the family out safely.

The owner of LaBranche Tavern housed the family for about five hours, giving them coffee and hot cocoa, before they left for home hours later.

Tavern owner Lauri Carlson says she was happy she could help “so they could be safe and be warm.”