A ‘moderate tornado? passed through Addison Township Monday night knocking down electrical lines, causing widespread power outages, splitting and uprooting trees and severely damaging residential properties.
Fortunately, there were no reported injuries or fatalities stemming from the storm.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the tornado touched down in Addison Township, one mile southwest of Leonard, around 8 p.m. According to eyewitness accounts, the tornado then lifted off the ground and traveled eastward, causing property damage on Quatro Lane and Haggerman Road.
The NWS classified the tornado’s strength as an ‘F-1? with an estimated speed of 75 miles per hour. The tornado had a width of 100 yards (the length of a football field) and left a half-mile path of destruction where it touched down.
Tornado strength is classified according to the Fujita Scale (or F-scale), devised by Dr. Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago, which gives the storms a numerical rating between F0 (gale tornado) and F5 (incredible tornado) based on damage, primarily to buildings.
The scale describes an F1 tornado as ‘moderate? with a ‘weak? intensity and estimated wind speeds of 73-112 miles per hour. The lower limit of 73 miles per hour is the beginning of hurricane wind speed.
An F1 tornado can cause shingles to peel off roofs, mobile homes to be pushed off their foundations or overturned and moving automobiles to be pushed off the road.
The first reported property damage from the tornado came from the Schmidt family at 2355 Noble Road, a ? mile west of Lake George Road.
According to Emily Schmidt, 22, daughter of Richard and Diane Schmidt, the tornado ‘lifted up? her seven-month-old 2002 Oldsmobile Alero, ‘smashed it on its side? and ‘flipped it over three or four times.? Her vehicle then struck her dad’s pickup truck and a tree, which stopped the vehicle’s motion, she said. Emily’s vehicle suffered extensive damage.
The tornado then moved east and touched down at 1188 Rowland Road (just east of Curtis Road), the home of Arthur and Laura Wiseman and their three children ? Benjamin, 6, Abigail, 4, and Eliza, 2.
A large portion of the home’s roof, above the Wiseman’s bedroom, was ripped off by the tornado and scattered around the backyard, in the pool and in the trees. Roofing shingles, pieces of wood and chunks of insulation littered the property and the branches of the trees still standing.
Many of the property’s trees either split at the truck or were uprooted. Numerous branches and limbs, along with outdoor furniture and children’s play equipment, were scattered around the area.
One large tree near the house split at the trunk and fell on top of the Wisemans? pickup truck. Part of that same tree also smashed through the home’s foundation.
At least two of the home’s windows were broken and the family’s satellite dish was mangled.
Arthur was golfing in Chesterfield Twp. when the tornado hit, but Laura was home with her three children. She said they all went into basement when the first tornado warnings were issued, but once the television news reported it was all clear shortly after 7 p.m., they all went upstairs to the second floor.
Sometime between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m., Laura said she saw ‘out of the corner? of her eye, pieces of their outdoor furniture shoot ‘straight up in the air.?
‘I honestly didn’t think it was a tornado? because the weather reports told them it was ‘all clear,? she said.
Laura said outside it was ‘dead silent,? ‘nothing was moving,? then ‘all of the sudden? she ‘heard cracking? and a giant ‘suction noise.?
She immediately grabbed all three kids and ran to the basement.
‘I kept yelling, ‘Go, go, go, go!,? Laura said. ‘The whole house was rocking.?
Laura said the family is currently staying with relatives and looking to rent a house somewhere in Addison until their home is cleaned up and repaired, which she estimated could take three or four months.
After hitting the Wisemans, the tornado moved eastward and knocked downed an electrical pole with a transformer in front of the Lakeville Gas Plant on Rochester Road. The power line attached to the pole fell across Rochester Road, which was then closed to through traffic for several hours.
It’s appears that this incident coupled with a downed power line on Noble Road caused power outages for 700 DTE customers in Addison and 100 customers in Leonard, according to DTE spokesman Scott Simons.
Leonard Elementary was without power from Monday night to early Wednesday morning, leading to the cancellation of classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. At about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, school officials learned the elementary school’s power had been restored, but classes had already been cancelled for the day.
On Tuesday, Simons said everyone’s power should have been restored by that afternoon.
DTE workers were in Addison Tuesday replacing the downed pole and power line on Rochester Road and making other repairs.
As it moved eastward, the tornado caused significant property damage to Joanne Watters and John Emrick’s properties on Quatro Lane, which is east of Rochester Road and west of Haggerman Road.
Watters said her 12-foot by 12-foot storage shed was completely obliterated by the tornado. Her neighbor, Emrick, witnessed the destruction.
‘I saw her shed slide across the road and then blow up,? he said. ?(A riding lawn mover) flew out of it upside down. That’s when I shot into my house (for cover).?
Watters? yard was littered with the contents of the shed ? including the riding mower still laying upside down ? and pieces of the structure.
The tornado also flipped a trailer belonging to Watters upside down and pinned it against a tree.
Watters expressed her confusion as to why the ‘all clear? signal was given before the tornado hit.
Emrick saw the tornado and said ‘it never touched the ground.?
‘I’d say it was 10 to 15 feet off the ground,? he said.
Emrick said he saw the tornado ‘engulf? a nearby tower supporting high-tension power lines and cause ‘flames and sparks? to ‘fly? off it.
After witnessing the destruction of Watters? shed and seeing the tornado heading for his property, Emrick grabbed his cat and headed for the basement.
‘I wasn’t even half-way down the stairs when I heard it rip through here,? he said. ‘It lasted maybe four or five seconds and that was it, it was done. It just missed my house by a few feet.?
Unfortunately, the tornado struck Emrick’s pole-barn causing many sections of the structure’s back and side walls to fly off and scatter.
Emrick showed this reporter how the structure’s poles were partially raised up, out of the ground.
‘The tornado tried to pick up the whole pole barn,? he said, adding that he believes when the structure’s walls were blown off, it relieved the pressure build-up inside, preventing it from becoming airborne.
The high winds also flipped Emrick’s pop-up camper and left it laying vertically against the pole-barn.
When asked what his immediate reaction was to the damage, Emrick replied, ‘It made me sick.?
‘I’m not even done cleaning up from the (early April) ice storm and now I got this to deal with,? he said. ‘But that’s why you pay insurance.?
After surviving the ice storms and now a tornado, Emrick said the area ‘deserves? a ‘good summer.?
‘We had enough (bad weather),? he said.
Pieces of Emrick’s pole-barn ended up on the property of his friends and neighbors, Joseph and Janet Kotowicz, who live to the southeast on Hagerman Road and also suffered tornado damage.
Janet Kotowicz said the tornado destroyed seven of her trees, four of which (three large pines and one which she couldn’t remember the type) fell on top of her house. The impact and weight of the trees caused some of the home’s walls to crack, she said.
Janet is particularly upset about the loss of her trees. ‘I love trees and I have no trees left by my house anymore,? she said. ‘The house is going to be so hot this summer.?
However, Janet was able to look on the bright side of things and be grateful for what was not destroyed.
‘At least we have a house,? she said. ‘It’s still there and we’re all alive.? As soon as the Kotowiczs heard the ‘terrible noise? generated by the tornado, they headed downstairs.
‘We just got down there when we heard the trees hit the house and then it was all done,? Janet said. ‘They always say (a tornado) happens so fast and honest to God it does. I don’t even know if it was whole minute or two. It was so scary and yet it was over with like that.?
Janet said the amount of damage it did in such a short time was ‘unbelievable.?
Although his residence didn’t suffer any tornado-related damage, Leonard resident Geno Mallia, Sr. said he saw the tornado as it rose off the ground and moved through the air to the east. ‘You could see the debris in the cloud,? he said. ‘It was scary. That’s the first (tornado) I’ve ever seen. I don’t want to see another one.?