MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — The strong storms that ripped through West Michigan Tuesday morning left behind a tangle of downed trees and power lines in hard-hit Muskegon County, with Michigan State Police saying at least eight homes were seriously damaged.
Three injuries have so far been linked to the storm. MSP said one person was hurt in a crash on US-31 near White Lake Drive near Whitehall and that a jogger in Muskegon County was hit by a falling tree branch. The Ottawa County emergency management director also said a jogger was hit by a falling tree branch in Grand Haven and hospitalized. Authorities did not have information about the injured people’s conditions later Tuesday.
About half the local roads in Muskegon County were impassable following the storms, with MSP blaming many of the closures on downed power lines. People were urged to obey all signage and barricades while crews worked on clearing the roadways. Primary highways remained open.
Strong thunderstorms leave thousands without power
‘TREES DOWN EVERYWHERE’
The storm littered the neighborhood in the area of Lakeshore Drive and McGraft Street in Muskegon with uprooted trees, downed branches, utility lines and other debris.
Neighbors described a storm as being like a hurricane. One person recalled the wind picking up downed branches, sending them swirling in the air.
“Looked outside and heard a lot of rumbling and a lot of noise, and I saw the transformer right outside my window starting to go out and flash that crazy blue arc. And then the tree next to the house, a very large tree, started to turn and spin and just kind of came apart,” neighbor Jeff Cook said. “The neighborhood is a total mess. There’s trees down everywhere — massive, old trees.”
Another neighbor said the transformer and a downed tree caught fire, but torrential rain doused it quickly.
Vickie and Rocky Ybarra said roofing from two doors down crashed into their house.
“It was like a jet plane hit the house and I yelled to my husband, just, ‘We’ve got to get to the basement.’ And that’s I think when that tree fell,” Vickie Ybarra recalled, pointing to a limb that landed on their roof. “It was crazy.”
“The tree … has a long branch that extends over … the yard, and that tree limb was swinging,” Rocky Ybarra said. “And the wife and I decided we better get out of bed and hit the ground trying to get out of here and right after that, that tree limb came off and everything started to happen.”
Cook said he saw the roof come off his neighbor’s house. Part of it landed in his yard.
“That ceiling is a 2-by-12 joist ceiling. I can’t imagine how much that weighs. Incredible,” he said. “And it came across the street, through the power lines and landed in our front yard. Did some damage to a couple of the vehicles out front here, too.”
Cook, who is a paramedic, said he checked on his neighbors and everyone seemed to be OK.
More roofing was wrapped around a nearby utility line, where it hung suspended until Consumers Energy workers in a bucket truck got it down around noon.
MARINA BUILDING ‘TOTALED’
Strong winds ripped the roof from a building at a marina off Ruddiman Drive on the north side of Muskegon Lake in North Muskegon.
“Very early this morning the wind came through. It basically somehow lifted up the roof, which flew over onto the other side, and it collapsed the walls and the big door,” Pointe Marine Association Operations Manager Brenda Meyer described.
“It’s totaled. Our heated building portion is totaled,” she said of the building, which is used to store boats and equipment.
She said that as the roof came off, pieces went flying toward the harbor and hit several boats. As many as 10 were damaged.
“Everybody’s OK. Even the marina cat is fine,” Meyer said.
Two people were staying the night at the marina in their sailboat, which they have been working on.
“They were inside the boat. It’s basically like being inside a trash can. It’s made out of metal. It was probably the safest place for them,” Meyer said.
She said the two alerted management to the damage and workers rushed to the marina. An insurance adjuster was expected later Tuesday to help figure out what would happen next.
“When we first got here, it was shock,” Meyer said. “We were like, ‘Holy crap, what are we gonna do?’ Now it’s just, get down, get busy, start cleaning up, rebuild it and get back to business.”
Boat owners, she said, would have to work with their individual insurance companies.
‘DEBRIS ALL OVER’ GOLF COURSE
North of Muskegon, Michigan’s Adventure amusement park said it would be closed Tuesday, citing the bad weather and a loss of power.
Nearby Bent Pine Golf Club was also closed Tuesday and likely Wednesday, with co-owner Curt Babcock saying there were about 20 downed trees around the course.
“At least a dozen or 14 of those totally uprooted; turf damage that comes with that. Debris all over the course with branches,” Babock said.
While damage was still being assessed Tuesday, he said it looked like it was the worst at holes 1, 3, 5 and 9.
“It’s the whole course. Just random trees uprooted and other trees near them look like they haven’t been touched,” Babcock said.
The maintenance team, clubhouse workers and friends were helping to clean up, he said. The goal was to be able to open Thursday.
“Owning a small business is tough,” Babock, who owns the course with his family, said. “You’re always pinching pennies and making ends meet and this doesn’t help. This doesn’t help. Losing a couple days of business is one thing, but it’s just all the other expenses that come along with the cleanup like this. We always say in the golf industry, you can’t fight Mother Nature because she’s always going to win, so it’s the way it is.”
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER ACTIVATED
The damage is believed to have been caused by strong straight-line winds. The National Weather Service reported gusts up to 71 mph in the Muskegon area.
Renee Gavin, the emergency management director for Muskegon County, said two rounds of storms hit the area of Norton Shores, Muskegon and Whitehall: one at 5:19 a.m. and the second at 5:55 a.m.
Within the first hour after the storms swept through, some 776 calls came in to Muskegon County 911, Gavin said.
Emergency workers were checking later in the day to make sure no one was trapped in any damaged homes or cars. If you are concerned someone may be missing, call Muskegon County Central Dispatch at 231.722.3524 ext. 1. That line is for reporting missing people only. You should call 911 for downed power lines and gas leaks.
Why did I hear sirens if there was no tornado?
The Muskegon County emergency operations center was activated in the wake of the storm.
If you see debris marked with cones or caution tape, clean-up crews have already surveyed it. Authorities urged people not to try to cut away any trees that are entangled with wires, which could be dangerous downed power lines.
You should always stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines. If you see one, call 911 and Consumers Energy.
Some 160,000 Consumers Energy customers statewide lost power as a result of the storm, including more than 30,000 customers in Muskegon County alone. The Jackson-based utility said it hoped to have service back to most by the end of the day Wednesday but warned some may be without power until Friday.
Inside woodtv.com: Consumers Energy power outage map
Anyone who needs resources like food or housing should call 211.
MSP directed residents to report damage using an online survey tool.
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