MDOT crews expected to spend two weeks picking up tornado debris along I-96
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct location of the cleanup effort.
WILLIAMSTON — Workers from seven Michigan Department of Transportation garages are collecting splintered trees, road signs and other debris scattered along Interstate 96 in the wake of the vicious Aug. 24 storms that killed two people and is believed to have led to the deaths of three others in the Lansing area.
"We appreciate drivers slowing down when they the crews out there because it is really dangerous work," MDOT spokesman Aaron Jenkins said.
Up to 40 workers, some from as far away as Brighton, Charlotte and Grand Ledge, are engaged in the cleanup effort along the freeway between Williamston and Webberville, Jenkins said.
The work started on Tuesday and is expected to take about two weeks, he said.
The storms spawned an EF-2 tornado that moved along the freeway in eastern Ingham County and continued into Livingston County, shearing off trees, tearing up road signs and taking down billboards.
A 41-year-old Hartland man was killed when his vehicle was swept off the freeway, and an 84-year-old Lansing woman was killed when a large tree fell on her house in south Lansing.
Two days later, two people are believed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning created by a generator amid storm-caused power outages. And a tree trimmer was electrocuted and died in Delta Township while doing storm clean-up work.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MDOT crews pickup up debris along I-96 following Aug. 25 tornado
