Tuesday night’s storms resulted in widespread damage in Ann Arbor, where two hockey arenas sustained major structural damage.
Part of the metal roof of the University of Michigan’s Yost Arena was damaged, with roofing material seen blown off the home of the Michigan Wolverines hockey team. In addition, the east wall of the Veterans Memorial Park ice arena collapsed during the severe storm, the Ann Arbor Fire Department confirmed.
National Weather Service staff were in Washtenaw, Shiawassee, Saginaw and Wayne counties on Wednesday assessing damage.
“It was a busy night for the (Ann Arbor Police Department, the Ann Arbor Fire Department, and the city’s public works department) as a strong storm went through our city in the middle of the night,” officials said Wednesday.
Storm forces Ann Arbor family into basement as tree flies across yard
Dante Boutell had just celebrated his birthday and gone to bed in his 110-year-old Ann Arbor home Tuesday night when a loud crack jolted him and the rest of his family awake.
He gathered his family, including five kids ranging in age from 5-18 years old, and hurried into the basement as wind and rain raged outside.
The intense winds calmed quickly, Boutell said, and he started to survey the damage.A tree from his neighbor’s property was leaning against his roof, the top of the tree still intact and hovering over the rest of his house.
Another tree broke in half and flew across his yard, landing at his front door. It destroyed a balcony and trim that had been painstakingly repainted over the last several years.
Remarkably, the century-old trees didn’t do more damage to the structure, and no one in his house was hurt.
“I’m going to guess it’s mostly superficial, but even the superficial, it’ s hard to replace something so old,” Boutell said.
After driving around Ann Arbor a bit Wednesday morning, Boutell was struck by a number of trees down across the city, but saw no other house hit like his. Most people seemed to get lucky — many of the trees fell away from the houses.
Boutell said he wasn’t quite sure where to even start. His entire front yard is underneath mammoth trees. His front door is inaccessible.
They have been renovating the home for the last four years, Boutell said. Most of what they completed is still intact, but more projects just got added to the list.
“It’s been a work in progress, and it’s a beautiful home that we’re restoring screw by screw, piece by piece,” Boutell said. “But mostly on the inside. The outside we haven’t touched so much.”
Storm unlike anything in one Ann Arbor resident’s 40-year experience
Ann Arbor resident Vince Pieske, 64, said he’s never seen a storm hit the city as hard in the 40 years he’s lived in the city as the one that hit Tuesday night. The storm damaged the baseball fields in Veterans Memorial Park and caused a natural gas leak near Pieske’s house that made a loud hissing noise.
Pieske said neighbors in the area made sure residents whose houses are by the leak got out.Pieske said he got lucky because fallen trees mostly missed his house, though one blocked his front door.“This was the first pretty good storm that we got like that. A lot of lightning, and just high winds,” he said.
The damage in Ann Arbor was one of many scenes across Michigan where storms or possible tornadoes were reported.
Ann Arbor police received more than 120 calls for service, the vast majority related to the storm, from 1:45 to 6 a.m.
Police said no injuries were reported, however.
They also urged residents to use extra caution when traveling on Wednesday morning.
Earlier Wednesday, Ann Arbor Fire Department officials said it responded to more than 75 calls by 5:20 a.m., but there are no reported injuries.
What happened at Veterans Memorial Park in Ann Arbor?
“A severe storm has caused significant damage across the City of Ann Arbor,” the Ann Arbor Fire Department said in a statement. “There are currently four public works crews working throughout the city to remove fallen trees and clear roadways. Several major streets are blocked, and some traffic signals are not functioning. Please allow extra travel time and use caution when moving through affected areas.”
They also said the east wall of Veterans Memorial Park Ice Arena collapsed.
City officials said city workers began assessing the damage and cleaning up as soon as it was deemed safe to be outside.
“There are four public works crews out across the city removing fallen trees from roadways,” they said.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
jpignolet@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: UM’s Yost Arena, Veterans Memorial Park Ice Arena damaged in Ann Arbor storm. See photos, video
Reporting by Jennifer Pignolet, Charles E. Ramirez and Julia Cardi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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