Upper Peninsula town cut off by ice jams

Blaze Whiter, right, and his brother Sander, 8, unload supplies as their grandfather James Wineguard carries items to Captain Jamie Pringle, on Neebish Island, April 5, 2018. The island is iced in, with no ferry service, so an airboat is the only means of travel to the mainland.

Blaze White, 9, of Pickford, left, and his brother Sander, 8, hand supplies to Captain Jamie Pringle, as they prepare to cross the St. Mary's River to Neebish Island, Thursday, April 5, 2018. The brothers were headed to their grandparents house to stay while their mother traveled to a doctor's appointment in Traverse City. The boys will be home-schooled through the internet and their grandmother, joining three other students on the island.

Captain Jamie Pringle operates an air boat across the St. Mary's River to Neebish Island, April 5, 2018, carrying mail and supplies to the iced-in island south of Sault Ste. Marie.

Captain Jamie Pringle operates an air boat across the St. Mary's River to the iced-in Neebish Island, April 5, 2018. Airboats are currently the only option to take people and supplies to and from the island, located south of Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Pringle, a captain of the Neebish Island Ferry for eight years, uses his air boat to deliver mail and people during extreme ice conditions when the ferry cannot operate.

The Neebish Island ferry lies in thick ice Thursday, April 5, 2018, after it became unable to move on March 30, 2018. Icebreakers and freighters are still moving, but only airboats take people and supplies to and from the island, located in the St. Mary's River south of Sault Ste. Marie, MI.

The freighter Edgar Speer passes the Neebish Island ferry, April 5, 2018, headed to Ashtabula, Ohio with ore. The island is iced in, with no ferry service since March 30. Icebreakers and freighters are still moving through the channel, which narrows at the ferry crossing, but only airboats can safely take people and supplies to and from the island, located in the St. Mary's River south of Sault Ste. Marie, MI

The ore carrier Philip R. Clarke, downbound to Detroit in the St. Mary's River's West Channel, passes the Neebish Island ferry Thursday, April 5, 2018, which is stranded by heavy ice. There has been no ferry service and while icebreakers and freighters are still moving, only airboats have been taking people and supplies since March 30.

The freighter Edgar Speer passes the Neebish Island ferry, April 5, 2018, headed to Ashtabula, Ohio with ore. The island is iced in, with no ferry service since March 30. Icebreakers and freighters are still moving through the channel, which narrows at the ferry crossing, but only airboats can safely take people and supplies to and from the island, located in the St. Mary's River south of Sault Ste. Marie, MI

The U. S. Coast Guard's bay-class icebreaker Neah Bay moves through thick ice at Neebish Island, April 5, 2018. Icebreakers and freighters still move through the narrow channel, but only airboats can take people and supplies to and from the island.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Neah Bay breaks ice at the entrance to the West Channel at Neebish Island, April 5, 2018. The St. Mary's River carries south-bound shipping traffic around the island, which has had no ferry service since March 30 due to heavy ice.