Storm

Severe storms passed through the area Friday afternoon, and we are hearing about some pretty significant damage in Kosciusko County. Kosciusko REMC says high winds caused 3,000 customers to lose power. Electricity has since been restored to over 2,000 of those customers. Electricity is also out in parts of Fulton, Pulaski and Marshall Counties. But there are apparently no reports of injuries. WSBT has a crew in Warsaw. Stay with us for updates.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY -- Damage left behind from Monday's big storm is so bad, St. Joseph County is making a special exception to help with the clean up. Neighbors usually can't expect the county to pick up tree limbs and branches -- it's usually not the county's responsibility.  But leaders say starting Monday, county crews will hit every neighborhood again to finish the cleanup they started in most places. Some homeowners are grateful the county is making an extra effort, others are skeptical.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY -- It may be Friday night before all power is back on following Monday’s severe weather. Tuesday’s sunny skies gave people a chance to cleanup damage and for power crews to work. WSBT is finding out about more the areas hit hardest. A viewer from the Fernwood subdivision off Cleveland Road in St. Joseph County sent us a Facebook message describing it as "a war zone. " People who live in this neighborhood tell us it is a lot better now than it was Monday, but there is still a lot of work to be done.   Less than 24 hours after the storm, some splintered trees still needed to be cut down and just a small stretch of roadway showed a lot of debris neighbors left in neat piles.

From Elkhart to St. Joseph County and from Coloma Township to Niles ... storms did a number on homes, parks and trees virtually everywhere. Clean up is slow and steady and for some, it hasn't even started. "I hear this crash and I can hear the windows shaking," said Haley Adams from Mishawaka. It was a Monday morning storm gone wild. Haley Adams still can't believe the aftermath. "I was so shocked I was crying," Adam said. Winds uprooted a massive tree in her Mishawaka backyard.

A Bristol resident got a scare when Monday morning’s thunderstorm sent a tree crashing down onto her buggy. Middlebury police say 25-year-old Marian Lehman was heading westbound on U.S. 20 at County Road 33 when the tree fell. It injured the horse but landed next to Lehman when it crashed through the roof, leaving her shaken but otherwise unharmed. Rescuers had to use a chainsaw to cut Lehman and the horse free. A veterinarian was called to check on the animal, but there is no word on the extent of its injuries.

For A Granger family, Monday’s morning’s strong storm made for a very close call. Winds – gusting as high as 81 miles per hour – uprooted three massive trees near Brian Dubie’s home. One of them came crashing down through his roof, into his bedroom, and landed on his bed.     Dubie and his wife had been sleeping there just hours before. They weren’t at home when the storm hit. But Dubie’s stepdaughter was. “When it first started I just thought it was … little branches.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say at least one man was injured in a motorcycle accident when strong thunderstorms with gusts of up to 81 mph blew through northern Indiana, knocking down trees and power lines. The Elkhart County Sheriff's Department reported that 24-year-old Jared Blosser of Goshen sustained a head injury when a tree snapped a power line that struck him, throwing him from his motorcycle about 10:55 a.m. Monday. There was no immediate word on his condition.

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.

WSBT Meteorologist Abby Weppler demonstrates one of the tools we use when there's a chance of severe weather.

THREE RIVERS -- Power is still out for thousands of people in St. Joseph County, Michigan. Severe thunderstorms with strong winds tore through the area Sunday night. Three Rivers was among one of the cities that was hit the hardest. There are trees down all along a few roads and there are a lot of people who still have plenty of clean-up ahead of them. For many, it was a Memorial Day that didn’t go as planned. A Memorial Day tradition of visiting Moorepark Cemetery turned emotional for this couple.