Berrien County hit hard by storm

Uprooted trees, downed powerlines and scattered debris result from 80 mph winds

July 11, 2011

COLOMA — Monday morning’s storm ripped across Lake Michigan, pummeling areas along the lakeshore. Roughly 80 mph winds uprooted trees and tore down power lines, leaving several thousand customers without power.

As gusts of wind turned into sideways rain, Mother Nature bore down on Berrien County.

“The sheets of wind were so strong that we started finding the transformers popping, bursting into flames and we started seeing all these trees topple,” said Dean Sanders, who lives off M-63 near Hagar Shores.

As he watched two huge trees destroy his guest cottage, Sanders wondered if the thick glass on the banister around his nearby lake home could take any more.

“It sounded like a tank ran into something and it was a horrible noise when both of them went down,” he recalled. “I’ve never seen it that bad.”

Coloma Township near Paw Paw Lake was among the widespread damage.

Chris Leach watched the storm hit from her office.

“I was actually looking out my window and I could see the power poles actually swaying in front of my building. I mean, it was really scary,” she said.

Leach’s daughter was home alone and came out to discover a huge tree on top of a car she just bought three months ago.

“I cried [when I first saw the damage],” said Michele Leach.

The direct hit for some turned into a frightening near miss for others. Erin Patti watched a tree in her backyard begin to snap with the force of the wind. She quickly grabbed her daughter and sought shelter in their basement.

“Just a few [more] feet and it would have hit the house,” Patti said. “It could have killed us all.”

A Coloma Township police officer told WSBT one car was actually driving down the road when a flying branch speared into the windshield. It went between the driver and passenger of the car, but fortunately they only had minor injuries – a few cuts and scrapes.

Police dispatchers across southwest Michigan said they had no reports of serious injuries from the storm.

After the storm passed, chainsaws and power crews were out in full force, trying to clean up what they could. But those like Sanders who had large trees uprooted in their yards and even toppled onto their homes, cleanup will have to wait.

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