Perry residents assess damage following EF-1 tornado; state of emergency in place

PERRY — Perry residents said they were shocked by the damage from a confirmed EF-1 tornado that hit the city Friday night, downing dozens of large trees, damaging homes and covering streets in debris.

Perry residents Gustavo Barahona and Kaitlyn Hampton took cover in the basement of their home in the 100 block of 3rd Street, east of M-52, with their 16-month-old toddler and pets when they heard the storm approaching. The two had just arrived home and turned on the Lions preseason game shortly before 8 p.m. when they saw notices for a storm watch in Perry.

"I saw something that got to me when it said '8 o'clock, Perry, Michigan,'" Barahona said. "So I'm like, 'Wait a minute, what are they talking about?'"

Barahona looked outside of the house and saw clouds building and power lines lighting up with electricity. The married couple heard a sound similar to a train passing — and while they live near train tracks that run through Perry, they didn't see any other indications of the crossing being active. They knew it was time to take shelter.

Tornado was on the ground for 3 miles

The National Weather Service Detroit office confirmed Saturday morning that a tornado with winds of up to 95 mph had struck the area about 7:51 p.m. Friday. The NWS storm survey showed the tornado was on the ground for about 3 miles and had a maximum path width of about 430 yards while crossing the city.

The tornado was on the ground from about 2.5 miles west of Perry, near Beardslee and West Britton roads, to about 0.6 of a mile southeast, in the vicinity of Washington and 2nd streets, the NWS said on its website.

"The tornado intensified as it entered the city," the NWS said in a bulletin on its website.

During the storm, several trees collapsed in front of Barahona's and Hampton's house, and on top of their car. Their house was mostly unscathed, other than possible roof damage. Barahona said their main concern during the storm was whether people in town had been injured.

Perry Mayor Sue Hammond said Saturday morning that there were no reported injuries or destroyed homes. Downed trees made up most of the damage in the town, she said. The city declared a state of emergency Friday night after the storm passed.

Damage mostly on north end of town

Hammond said most of the damage was concentrated in a few areas — the north end of Main Street, the neighborhood areas by 2nd and Main streets, and the city's public works area off Polly Street north of the railroad tracks. Three of four public works buildings were significantly damaged, Hammond said, and city hall also suffered damage.

A veterans memorial pavilion in Veterans Memorial Park next to city hall on Polly Street had visibly damaged support beams early Saturday. Hammond said the structure was totaled and would be demolished for safety reasons.

Residents, including Hampton, said they didn't hear a tornado siren at any point in the night, and Hammond confirmed the siren didn't activate because the tornado destroyed it as it touched down.

Hampton said without the siren, residents didn't receive any sort of notice on a tornado.

Jazmin Friend, who lives in the 200 block of Madison Street on the east side of the city, took cover during the storm in a bathtub with her three children. Friend said she hadn't been aware of the severe weather possibility before the storm, only hearing about thunderstorm possibilities from a friend.

Friend and her family didn't have time to reach a lower level and took shelter on the second floor, she said. The tornado was one of the scariest things she's experienced, she added.

Friend said she heard crackling shortly after the intense winds began, which she assumed was trees outside of her house splitting. Saturday, there were multiple trees downed in her yard and in front of her property.

Her street was completely blocked off until about 2 a.m., Friend said. The power line supplying electricity to their house also snapped.

Friend and Hampton said the worst of the storm only lasted five to 10 minutes.

Community support evident to residents

Friend, Barahona and Hampton each expressed gratitude for the support of local officials and the community as they assessed the damage and began to consider their next steps.

"A lot of neighbors came by and check to make sure that we were OK," Hampton said. "We've had a lot of support, people asking if we need anything."

Friend said a few local businesses were providing food and supplies for impacted residents and emergency workers.

"We've had so many people come out and offer help on trying to get the trees and stuff out," Friend said. "But our house is in pretty good condition, so I feel like we don't need it as bad as others."

Jeff Kodet, owner of a True Value hardware store on Main Street, has been giving out free food and collecting storm cleanup supplies to make sure his store is stocked.

Kodet's store stayed open overnight from Friday until 4 a.m. Saturday, providing supplies for whoever needed them.

"We just try to be part of the community and help out however we can," he said. "Everybody's kind of treated us like a hub and we're just trying to help out people however we can."

Kodet said a nearby Sam's Club gave him 50% off his purchase after telling the manager he was assisting with storm relief, and Costco provided more than 30 cases of bottled water at no charge.

Kodet, who owns hardware stores in several locations, said he's only had the Perry store for about a year. But local action over the last day has allowed him to see just how tight knit the community is.

"Everybody came together," he said. "I've had close to 1,000 people respond or like my post and doing the same thing, 'How can we help out as I'm standing out here this morning?'"

Hammond advised those looking to assist the community to bring food or water to emergency workers at the Perry Fire Station. Individuals can also reach City Hall at 517-625−6155.

Localized damage and outages

Detroit NWS meteorologist Alex Manion said damage from the storm was localized to southern Shiawassee County. He said there were a few reports of straight-line wind damage in other areas and flash flooding reported in Flint. Areas of Livingston, Oakland and Macomb counties received as much as 2 inches of rain from the storm that swept through Shiawassee County.

Consumers Energy was reported more than 670 customers in the Perry area without power as of 11:20 p.m. Friday, but that number had gone down by 10:15 a.m. Saturday when the largest single outage was about 160 and about a dozen smaller outages throughout residential areas.

Late Friday, Perry officials declared a state of emergency that remained in effect Saturday. Hammond said the declaration would allow the city to receive federal funding if needed and that she had been in contact with U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, about what help the government may be able to provide.

Hammond said she has lived in Perry 71 years, but hadn't seen a storm like Friday's hit the downtown area.

Tree cleanup companies were busy throughout town Saturday morning as residents sought their services. Debris on town roads were cleaned up by city services, but trees and branches on private property are the responsibility of property owners, Hammond said.

Contact Sheldon Krause at skrause@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @sheldonjkrause.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: EF-1 tornado Perry Michigan state of emergency in effect