DETROIT — Detroit declared a state of emergency on the east side of town Friday after an EF-2 tornado toppled trees, damaged homes and buildings, and knocked out power for thousands of residents.
The tornado is Detroit's first in nearly 30 years. Crews are working to restore power and repair some of the worst damage left behind.
Residents across the east side are still processing what they witnessed when the storm rolled through.
Watch 7 Action News reporter Brett Kast story with the latest on the damage left behind by the storm in the video below:
"All the trees were down, it was just total destruction and I've never seen anything like it before," Lisa Spain said.
"You would think somebody had an airplane, and just came through boom!" Dariyl Henry said.
Shanese Slater watched the storm from inside her home, later finding a tree had crashed into her neighbor's home across the street and another had fallen on a neighbor's car.
"All of a sudden from thunder to all rain, just torrential rain. I'm talking about so much it was looking like it was fog rain. Then I saw the woosh woosh woosh and I was like, 'Oh no, we about to have some problems,'" Slater said.
"My neighbor, I guess he heard the crash and then he sent me the picture and I was, as you could say, very perturbed," Daryl Weaver said of the tree that landed on his car. "I was super pissed."
The tornado brought down roofs, walls and power lines, along with more than 80 trees across the city. Many of those trees fell at Gabriel Richard Park, which briefly closed as crews cleared the paths. The park has since reopened, though it lost 20 of its old-growth trees as the tornado moved across the east side, over the river and then to Belle Isle.
Weather News
Detroit's west side neighborhoods assess storm damage from powerful storm
On Belle Isle, crews and volunteers picked up debris where the tornado made its last stop before leaving the city.
Mayor Mary Sheffield declared a state of emergency for the east side as the city works to bring in more resources.
"Because of the volume of the tree requests, our crews are prioritizing any trees blocking major roads and that also pose a health and safety issue for our residents," Sheffield said.
"The state is helping us as we overview the situation, and we're going to do the continuation of the damage assessment to see if we need resources from outside the state," said Hilton Kincaid, director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for the City of Detroit..
Thousands of residents remain without power, hoping cleanup and repairs come quickly.
"No power? Can't eat, can't sleep, can't warm anything, nothing," Spain said.
Weaver said the fallen tree means he can't tow his car to get looked at, and he is waiting on the city to remove it before the vehicle can be towed.
"I can't even move that piece of tree off the car, and I can't have the car towed until they come move it. I reported it to the city, I'm just gonna see how long it's going to take for them to come out and do something about it," Weaver said.
The city is reminding residents to stay away from downed power lines and damaged buildings.
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