UNADILLA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Severe thunderstorms rolled through Southeast Michigan overnight, prompting tornado warnings in some parts of metro Detroit.
Watch our report from Hickory Ridge Farms in Livingston County, which was hit hard by storms:
While most of the severe damage took place on the west side of the state, we still saw damage at a farm in Livingston County and in Holly.
Watch chopper video of storm damage in Livingston County
Gary Topping says he was watching the weather forecast as a storm came over the area of Stockbridge, zeroing in on his cash crop farm, Hickory Ridge Farms.
"They hadn't declared a tornado warning until about 15 minutes before. And we never heard the sirens of anything. Actually, I was watching the storm out the window," said Topping. "The next thing you know, you see stuff flying around."
The longtime Unadilla Township resident watched helplessly as the storm tore part of the roof off of his barn — and later learned another of his barns got ripped apart, exposing hay bales and trapping farm equipment.
"We didn't know how much damage until this morning," he said. "Did some damage to my house, shingles off pretty much every house."
“Of course, the electricity went out about the same time.”
He’s not alone in that regard. Therese Cremonte, the Livingston County emergency management director, says property damage throughout the county was nominal.
"We have limbs down. Some wires down. On the west side, northwest side, power outages, Consumers customers are out. Consumers is working to get that back up and running," she said.
On top of that, she said about a thousand DTE customers lost power.
"But for the most part, there's no heavy damage and there's no injuries, which we're glad for," she said. "We are asking our citizens to prepare, because we're going to get another round of storms tonight. National Weather Service did just upgrade what we were supposed to be getting. So we're asking that everybody again, stay storm aware, weather aware, and be prepared."
Meantime, Topping said he hopes to have all of this straightened up and behind him well within the next three years, as the farm prepares to celebrate its centennial year.
In Holly, we saw several trees down in just one area, which also knocked down a utility pole and took down power lines.
Remember, stay at least 25 feet away from any downed line and report it to either DTE or Consumers Energy.
"It was just so quick and so fast that there was really no time to have preparations," Anthony Bailey, who works at Mugg and Bopp's in Holly, said.
