![]() ![]() He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in print journalism from Grand Valley State University, where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Lanthorn.Ī native of Bay City, Mark is an avid fan of the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Michigan State Spartans and the Chicago Cubs. ![]() He previously worked at the Holland Sentinel and the Greenville Daily News. Prior to arriving at the Tribune, Mark was night desk editor for the Cadillac News, where he also helped out the sports department on busy high school football and basketball nights. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Huron County and shut down high school sports in March 2020, Mark made a temporary move to news and officially joined the newsroom as a reporter in July 2021. Mark was first hired by the Tribune in the summer of 2019 to serve as sports editor, covering high school sports and running the Tribune’s annual football contest. Mark Birdsall has been the assistant editor of the Huron Daily Tribune since April 2022. “The communities in Thumb were exposed to the worst of it, because the two fronts collided over lower Lake Huron,” he said. 9 was responsible for the maritime disaster that occurred, McGreevy added, dooming ships, and the region, to their fates. There were no coal mines in the Upper Peninsula, he said, and the UP depended on the shipping industry to keep warm and to power steam-operated machines.Ī brief burst of energy between 8 p.m. McGreevy said all northbound ships that sank rolled over because they all carried coal, an unstable cargo. “(Crews) had no idea what they were sailing into.” “It had been exceptionally nice for a couple days before then, so everyone had been lulled into a sense of complacency,” McGreevy said. A lack of communication between ships also contributed to the widespread disaster. Great Lakes historian and maritime artist Robert McGreevy said the ships lost were new, full-sized steel ships, believed to be “too big to sink.” The smaller ships took shelter in harbors and coves. The effects of “the White Hurricane” were felt from Duluth, Minnesota, to Buffalo, New York, but the waters and shoreline from Alpena to Port Huron suffered the most.ĭocks along the lakeshore from Sebewaing to Harbor Beach were lost, and none were ever rebuilt, due in large part to the advancement of shipping and travel by rail. Though the storm wreaked havoc inland, it was nothing compared to the catastrophe that occurred on the shoreline and Lake Huron itself.Ī total of 19 ships were sunk across the Great Lakes during the storm, including 16 alone lost or stranded in Lake Huron, which bore the brunt of the storm. One daily line did not depart from Bad Axe until Tuesday. A train from Port Huron headed to the top of the Thumb became stuck in the snow overnight, trapped in the snow two miles south of Port Austin. The Saginaw line made an attempt to get through the deep drifts and became stuck near an area known as Grassmere, east of Caseville. Mail carriers were unable to complete the routes until Wednesday of that week. The wind led to snowdrifts from six to eight feet inland, blocking the streets of Bad Axe making travel throughout the Thumb nearly impossible. Snow began to fall and the wind steadily increased, reaching at least 65 mph and creating blizzard conditions by nightfall.īy morning, a foot of snow had fallen, and the storm showed no signs of letting up. 9, as a powerful wind out of the northwest that sometimes veered to the east. 14, 1913, edition of the Huron Daily Tribune, the storm began on Sunday, Nov. Many ships sunk, but several were also damaged beyond repair, Great Lakes historian Robert McGreevy said. About 250 lives and 25 ships were lost in the storm. ![]()
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