In Union City on Saturday, March 7, the purring and wailing of chainsaws was constant.
The small town was drenched and smelled earthen and damp, typical after any rain, but the toppled trees and missing roofs told a graver story. Standing downwind from one of the many fallen trees or crumpled buildings, it did not smell like rain — it smelled like lumber.
All around Union City — a village of less than 2,000 people — men, women and children scrambled to clean up the wreckage of a tornado that tore through late Friday evening. The storm left 12 injured and four dead, authorities said, including a 12-year-old boy in Cass County, according to the county’s sheriff’s office. A National Weather Service official rated the storm an EF3 upon initial review.
Duane Green III, a woodworker who owns Daddy’s Hands Custom Woodworking in downtown Union City, was outside with his wife and children sweeping up glass early Saturday morning.
This is not Green’s first time cleaning up after a storm. He volunteers with Samaritan’s Purse, a nonprofit organization that provides disaster relief after major storms. He has been in North Carolina, Missouri and Alaska for cleanup efforts after hurricanes and tornadoes, but this storm hit home.
“After these storms, you just see some of the rawest forms of life,” Green said.
As the tornado touched down, Green and his family sheltered more than a dozen people, gathered from the sidewalks, apartments and other small businesses on Union City’s main drag, North Broadway Street, in the basement of their shop. Many of them, including Green himself — a man who follows severe storms as a passion — had no idea there was a tornado coming for their hometown.
“It was beautiful, sunny out,” his wife, Dawn Green, said. “We didn’t know it was coming.”
Ben Richmond, another storm chaser and a friend of Green’s, was among the first on the scene as he followed the tornado through southwest Michigan on Friday night. He has chased eight tornadoes in the last two years.
“This is the worst damage I’ve ever seen of those eight tornadoes,” he said.
When Richmond found two bodies near Union Lake — an area of town that was hit particularly hard by the storm — he said he covered them, alerted officials and continued looking for people to help.
“It was hard, but that’s part of it,” he said. “You’re seeing the beauty of nature watching a storm, but there is also a dark side of it.”
Tiffany Tisdale, a mother of two, said she expected only a thunderstorm to hit Union City, not a tornado that would leave at least four dead, according to first responders’ counts Saturday.
“I went into fight or flight mode,” Tisdale said on the porch of the red, 100-year-old house on Charlotte Street where she rents an apartment upstairs. “I took my two kids to the bathroom and just covered them with a blanket. … I was praying so hard.”
Outdoors, a massive tree lay on its side in Tisdale’s yard. She pointed to the base of the tree that covered most of the driveway, where her boyfriend usually parks his work truck. It was a stroke of luck, she said, that he was at work.
Carrie Wing, 47, stood outside her house on Summit Street on Saturday afternoon as a crew worked to clean debris from the outside of her house. A tree hit the roof and water leaked into the living room.
Wing said her husband and her teenager were at work during the time of the tornado. She and her youngest son left home and started driving north about 30 minutes before it hit.
“I really feel like God had a hand in it because we should have been (home),” Wing said. “Something just kept telling me ‘go.’ I had no good reason to go at all, and we left. And it wasn’t 30 minutes later that it hit.”
Evelyn Peters, 11, made over 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for people working in Union City. She came from Marshall with her dad, who helped clean up trees on Division Street while she made sandwiches. She said the sandwiches have been putting a smile on people’s faces, and seeing people smile makes her smile, too.
“There is a lot of damage, but if you can, try and go out and help somebody because it can make their day better,” Peters said.
Peters was one of many who showed up for the cleanup. Union City residents walked from house to house, jumping in to clean up debris. Salome Stevry, 18, came from neighboring Burlington.
At Union City High School, piles of donations filled the front hallway. The school served as a shelter and a place people could come for restrooms, water and food.
Wing said she has felt so much support from family and friends in Union City. She said she also has family driving in from out of state to help.
“I love my community, and it’s really great to see so many people willing to come in and help in no time,” Wing said. “It’s beautiful to see everyone come together.”
Many Union City locals have stories of narrowly avoiding catastrophe during the storm, like Doug Rothfuss. His house sits across from what used to be a thick copse of woods.
The small woods across the street — which used to hide a small pond, a place where children would go to play, he said — was obliterated. “My view is gone.”
“I stood here in my front window and watched it. Debris, sticks, everything flying everywhere,” Rothfuss said, spinning his arms around. “Then, kaput, it was done.”
“When I heard the storm coming, I thought something really bad was going to happen,” he said. “And it did.”
Contact Liam Rappleye: LRappleye@freepress.com. Contact Natalie Davies: NDavies@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After devastating Union City tornado, community assesses damages
Reporting by Liam Rappleye and Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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