Michigan is Greatful!

[wind149]

If anyone noticed that I was not on the board Thursday is because we had some horrific weather here as you might have seen on the news. 17 separate tornadoes touched down all of the state. The weather people said we were in for some severe weather but no one gambled for what we had! I am in the middle of the thumb and luckily, for the most part we escape a lot of the severe weather, but I gotta tell ya I was scared because the wind started really howling, hail as big as baseballs were falling and hitting the side of the house and I got to working real fat on my safety plan! I put the cats in their carrier and put them in the closet and then I hunkered down by the bed. The news station kept telling people to take cover and bam it hit! We had winds here of excess of 80 miles an hour, lost power for awhile but the southern part of the state got nailed!! In Millington, a baby was thrown 40 feet as his house just crashed down on him and his parents. I saw the house, it was a miracle anyone survived. He was pinned underneath his crib which had flipped over, which essentially saved his life! In Tuscola County, they estimated one tornado cut a swatch 12 miles long!! In Kalkasa a guy died when his house collapsed on him. 2 people died outside of Lansing when their home was blown into a creek with them in it. An elderly woman was killed only 29 miles from here in Saginaw County when her trailer was tossed in the air, On Interstate 96 several semis were tossed like toys! This was one of the worst for MI. In 1974 they had an outbreak of 100 tornadoes in MI and OH. They are comparing that nightmare to Thursday. My yard was tore up, I found my lawn chair well out in the pasture, and the horses were freaked out. At 11 pm I was in the barn with them! I went to bed around 12:30 and fell asleep with the TV on. Next thing I know, I wake up because they were showing tornado warnings again!! This time another round two punch. I was instantly up and watching some really scary lightening, and out here it looks almost like fireballs streaking through the sky, freakiest stuff I have ever seen, Did not have that in VT! Then it started hailing again and I just sat there waiting for the shoe to drop, but luckily we were spared. But another town got hit hard in Shaiwasse County and two towns in Alpena which is way in the northern part of the state! I turned the outside light on again to check for damage and I saw a hailstone as big as a softball sitting right outside the door. It had leaves embedded in it and dirt! I saved it, it is in my freezer! I said a big old prayer when I finally went back to bed and the next day on TV when you see the damage, especially that baby's house and you know the good Lord himself had something to do with that! The National Weather Service was floored as tornadoes rarely happen in Oct, but we have been having unseasonably warm weather here like last weekend it was in the 90's and today it is still in the high 60's when it is supposed to be in the low 50's! So overall, even though people did lose their lives, it could have been much worse and buildings can be replaced.

[Amberlee]

Hi! I actually live right in Millington. I'm truly amazed at the story of the baby who survived being thrown by the tornado. I'm also amazed at the whole story of what happened.

I went to bed at 1am after reading here, and heard the weather. Tornadoes took trees down in town, you can see a perfect path where the tornado went. Two blocks from me. I'm pretty grateful myself that nothing was damaged, or nobody got hurt. The sirens never sounded in town!

Nice to see a neighbor around here *smile*

[wind149]

Wow! You were lucky! I was scared out of my tree I must admit because normally we don't get real severe weather in Midland. The first year I lived here we had an F-1 come rumbling by. It was June 6, 2003. I got out of work about 1 p.m. and stopped at my local RX as it is only down the road to have a script filled. I came home and turned on the TV and they were flashing tornado warnings for Saginaw, Bay, and Midland Counties. It started to get really black outside and the wind started howling and it started to hail. Then the weather guy from ABC12 advised people near Meridan Road to take cover and keep in mind I lived in a mobile home! I freaked, threw the cats and me in the closet and prayed real loud. The phone was ringing and it was my sister and I ran and grabbed it and told her to take cover now! I heard a noise that sounded like a train and kinda a whirling noise and then something hit the house and it started shaking! I swear to you I saw the side of my bedroom lift right up! The window blew in and I am thinking I am done for here! I could hear other people screaming in the park and I was praying everyone would be alright as there were lots of kids in the park and my next door neighbor was pregnant. It seemed like it lasted for hours, I could hear stuff hitting the side of the house, I hoped my car was safe as it was in the car port. Then it became quiet. You could hear people yelling, my cats were flipping out, and I ran outside. There were trees down and several had landed on homes, everyone was yelling is everybody alright? My neighbor and I went house to house checking on people and amazingly, no one was seriously hurt. As I am standing there talking to several people, then the siren went off! A little late ain't it? My poor pregnant neighbor rode it out in her van. She was afraid to stay in the house as mobile homes and tornadoes don't go hand in hand. She was a little shaky but fine! According to several people, the thing actually split into two over the center of the park. Phone and lights were out, but I had to get to the RX. Several police and firemen were now at the scene and I asked if it was OK to go to the RX and they said yes, but that M-20 was closed and as I go down the road I see why. Several trees were all over the road, a business had collapsed onto the road and there was debris everywhere! I got to the store where the RX is and it was the talk of the moment. Everyone had harrowing tales of what we all just survived! The store had no power but somebody ran to get a generator and it was the only one I think open for miles! I went to my friend's house in Hope and this is where I live now and it had not even rained over here!! So I am so glad Amberlee that you are OK and thank God that little boy survived. What made me nervous the other night is if one was bearing down on you at night, you can't see it and that is what happened with you guys down there in Millington and Tuscola. Till the wind really started howling I kept an eye on the sky as the lighting was intense! So while some people did not make it, loss of life could have been much worse and I am so grateful that all I hold dear like my sister and all my friends and my animals were OK. The horses were still a little nervous Friday morning, but today they are fine.

[kurro07]

Trolls




(only michiganders will get that! :biggrin: )

Guess I got lucky being a yooper. Good luck w/ the clean up. I didn't even know about the storm because my bf and I just have a pair of rabbit ears on our tv and where we live we only get channel 3 out of wisconsin. =\ Good thing my older sister and her toddler were up here because my sister would have been freaking out! (I probably would have too.)