Storm Warnings

9/30/2024 (Permalink)

When the weather gets scary, information and plans can get easily confused. There are around 42 different kinds of weather alerts from seven different categories. That is a lot to sort through when you are trying to protect your family.

When you have an understanding of different weather advisories, it means you are able to get to safety faster. It also means you can take proactive action now in order to protect your property and prevent damages later.

An overall knowledge of several kinds of weather events is good, but it is crucial to understand what the alerts we will most often see in Michigan mean.

<h4alerts-are-issued">How Alerts Are Issued

Have you ever wondered where weather alerts come from? Forecasts are just predictions, so how is a storm’s location, severity and length watched? There are a few answers to those questions.

You probably already know the name the National Weather Service, but were you aware they create weather forecasts and issue any warnings needed? There are six different regional offices and more than 100 forecasting offices around the nation, which means our forecast is localized and accurate. For us in the Manistee area, our weather forecasting office is located in Grand Rapids.

Meteorologists at the NWS use several different forms of information in order to create a forecast, including seismic activity, solar activity, sensors and satellite radar. The data used will depend on the weather coming, but the result is the same: to create an accurate and dependable forecast.

<h4most-important-alerts-to-understand">The Most Important Alerts to Understand

Even with so many different types of alerts, it is important that everyone around the United States understands the difference between a watch and a warning. This is language that will be included in almost every situation, including winter storms, flooding, ice storms and thunderstorms.

A watch means you should begin protecting your home for severe weather. Watches are issued to cover a large area, while a warning will be issued when a storm has been located in a smaller location, such as a single county or city. When a warning is issued, you should take any necessary steps to protect your home and your life, including moving to safety right away.

It is also crucial to understand the weather alerts we are most likely to see here at home. In our typically cold climate, this means knowing what to do during winter storms, ice storms and freezing temperatures.

We also need to have a good knowledge of flood warnings when the snow melt begins and our rivers start to overfill. While we enjoy our typically mild summers, we do still have to stay alert for the occasional severe thunderstorm as well.

<h4your-home-during-a-storm">Protecting Your Home During a Storm

Understanding multiple kinds of weather alerts is a great step in protecting your loved ones and avoiding damage to your home, but there are also a few other things you can do before the storm moves in.

Maintain your gutters on a regular basis and secure your outdoor furniture to avoid flood damage and wind damage before a storm rolls in. Ensure there is a location in your house with emergency supplies for your family to safely shelter in place, and create an exit plan for when you need to get out.

Once the storm is gone and it is safe to do so, take a look at your property and survey any damages. Take some pictures and give SERVPRO® a call right away. We are available ²⁴⁄₇ to start your recovery faster and get your restoration completed.

If you find your home in need after one of these sitautions give SERVPRO of Manistee, Ludington and Cadillac a call at 231-723-4872

National volunteer week

4/5/2018 (Permalink)

With National Volunteer Week taking place the week of April 15-21, it's important that we recognize those putting their lives on the line everyday. Did you know that many fire fighters and EMTs are volunteers? 

There are more than 29,700 fire departments with over 1 million total fire fighters. Of those many are volunteer. Same goes for EMTs. There are more than 245,000 EMTs and paramedics. So many of our local heroes are out everyday risking their lives to save ours and doing it all out of the goodness of their heart.  

So the next time you see someone in uniform or those red lights flashing in your rear view mirror, give then a nice hand shake and move to the side of the road.

Baking kids happy at Christmas

11/21/2017 (Permalink)

We're excited to ring in the holiday season by engaging with other local organizations as part of the annual "Shop with a Cop" program, benefiting children all around our community.

Children throughout Mason County are crossing their T’s and dotting their I’s on the Christmas lists that they have been working so hard on. They fantasize about the mound of presents under the tree, hoping Santa brings them everything on their list.

But what if that mound of presents doesn’t exist? What if Christmas morning is a time of sadness and empty hopes? What if Christmas morning is really just that, a fantasy?

We believe no child should go without this holiday season, and that's why we're committed to helping make every child's Christmas morning a dream come true.

For the second year in a row, we are proud to participate in our local “Shop with a Cop”  program, where elementary-age children are paired with a local law enforcement officers to shop for Christmas gifts for themselves and their families.

In order to raise money to purchase the gifts, SERVPRO of Manistee, Ludington and Cadillac, along with other local businesses, are pulling together for a pie auction. Each pie is prepared and donated, and auctioned off live on local radio station WMOM, with 100% of the proceeds going towards the "Shop with a Cop" program.

We hope that with your support, this annual event is bigger and better then ever before.  

Tune in to WMOM on Wednesday, November 22 for the live auction, so you can enjoy a nice slice of pie this Thanksgiving – and children in our local community can enjoy the Christmas of their dreams.

Visit the Facebook auction page here.

Back to school tip and tricks

8/15/2016 (Permalink)

With all of the parents gearing up to send their children back to school, the harsh reality of back to school shopping begins to hit their wallets like a freight train. American parents with children from kindergarten through 12th grade will collectively spend about 24.9 billion dollars, which is an average of $315.18 per child. That amount is down 6% from last year according to Martha C. White. A lead consult at familyfinance.com. 

A good way to lower the spending costs is to simply shop around. Shopping online has so many benefits. A lot of the time, you can get the name brands at a fraction of the cost and even shopping around online on multiple sites will allow you that price break. For example, my daughter wanted a specific pair of Under Armour tennis shoes that she found at a popular sporting goods store for $77. I started looking online and found the same pair of shoes for $29.99 with free shipping after searching around a few different sites. $47 less then what they were at the sporting goods store. 

Another great way to cut prices is to use social media. Facebook has so many of the yard sale and garage sale sites where people re-sell their gently used items and sometimes brand new which are a lot less because they are simply trying to get rid of them. 

There are so many ways to cut costs for back to school shopping. A lot of them are at your fingertips. The internet is great tool to find all of the name brand must haves to make their first day entrance one to remember.

Memorial Day

6/9/2016 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Manistee, Ludington & Cadillac has had the priviledge of employing exceptional people. Employees who work hard to provide for their families and allowing SERVPRO to maintain our highly recommended reputation. Among them are David Gancarz, Marc Pirtle & Phillip Wicinski. These three men, to most people, just look like your everyday people walking down the street but us here at SERVPRO, they are heroes. 

Phillip Wicinski had been with SERVPRO for just over 2 1/2 years. Working as a Recon Carpenter, Phillip works mainly out of our Manistee location. Born in Muskegon, Phillip re-located to Manistee in 1976, where he remains today. In 1988, Phillip made the brave choice to join the Navy. Phillip served for quite some time before marrying his beautiful wife Stacey. Together, they have 2 sons, Zachary and Jakob and in March 2016, Phillip and Stacey welcomed their 1st grandchild Carter. Phillip has always had a place in his heart for helping people, stating that his favorite part of working for SERVPRO was "Helping people in their time of need."

Marc Pirtle has been with SERVPRO for almost a year. Even though Marc is new to SERVPRO where he works as a Mitigation/ Recon Technician, where he works mainly in the Cadillac area. Marc does not lack in his knowledge in the field. Having over 20 years' experience in the paint and construction industry and owning his own painting business along with 2 retail businesses, Marc has exceptional customer service that he employs every day with SERVPRO customers. Marc spent 8 years in environmental monitoring and equipment installation but among his biggest accomplishments were the 15 years that he served in the United States Army. Marc served in the 312 Armed Calvary Regimen. Although, Marc has now settled down and started a family of his own, he will never forget the men and women that he has met and the places he has been. He stands tall and very proud to say that he served.

Finally, David Gancarz has been with SERVPRO for just about a year working as a Crew Chief. David was born and raised right here in Mason County and is a Freesoil graduate. He and his wife Mandy, have 3 beautiful daughters and now reside in Custer. After graduating from high school, David made the choice to join the United States Army where he proudly served 4 years. While in the Army, David was decorated with many badges and medals, but among them is one that he holds very close. While serving, David was struck by a road side bomb while on deployment. Due to that incident, David received the purple heart. David is very proud of the time he served. He feels as though every day is a gift and life is a gift and knows just how fragile both are. David lives by making the most of every day and giving as much as he can to his family.

Memorial Day, originally known as Declaration Day following the Civil War, was made into a nationally observed holiday in 1971. The day was to honor the men and women who paid the ultimate price fighting for our freedom. To most of us, Memorial Day is a day off to relax with the family, have a BBQ and enjoy the sunshine but like David, Phillip & Marc have experienced first-hand, the reality that freedom isn't free is all too real. This Memorial Day let's rememeber the true reason this holiday was instilled as a national holiday and shake a hand to those who gave some and pay your respects to those who gave all.

From all of us at SERVPRO of Manistee, Ludington & Cadillac, thank you to all of the men and women who have or are currently fighting for our country and a special thank you to the families who are away from their loved ones serving proudly as a representaion of them. We salute you. Please have a safe and happy Memorial Day. God Bless.

Emergency Ready Profiles

5/4/2016 (Permalink)

Did you know that 50% of businesses never re-open following a disaster? SERVPRO offers a no cost, no obligation service called an Emergency Ready Profile or an ERP. This proactive resource tool is to better prepare yourself, home & business for any of life's unexpected disasters. When you make the choice to have an ERP done on your business or home, one of our marketing representatives will walk through your business with one of your trusted employees. Your employee will show our marketer where all of your major shut offs are located and all contact information for the company. This 14-page portfolio will allow the SERVPRO employees to answer most questions on whereabouts for things, complete with descriptions to the shut locations and accompanied by pictures. This folder will also have work authorization contact info, insurance information and any other special regards that will help SERVPRO in the event of a disaster. When the ERP is presented, the marketer will also walk the representative from your company through downloading our free app that will already have all of this important information uploaded onto it. An ERP is an essential tool to help when life throws one of their unexpected disasters at you.

SERVPRO opens office in Ludington

1/29/2015 (Permalink)

Big news! SERVPRO of Manistee, Ludington and Cadillac is opening an office in Ludington!  

We have served the Ludington area since starting in 2002.  To better serve the area we will be opening an office at 1833 US-10, Scottville, 49454.  This means quicker response times for emergencies and a better overall service for our customers in the Ludington area.

Look for the "coming soon" sign within the next week on the south side of US-10. The ground breaking will begin as soon the weather allows!

Stay tuned for updates and photos!