Kevin Griessel said he was at work Wednesday when a tornado touched down in his Fraser neighborhood.
Both he and his wife left work early to check on their daughter, who was in their home on Regal Drive near Klein Road and 14 Mile when it struck, he said.
"(My daughter's) car got hit pretty good by a tree branch," the 56-year-old toolmaker said Thursday morning.
Griessel was among dozens in his neighborhood dealing with the aftermath of the fast-moving storm system that brought hard rain, high winds, and at least one tornado to southeast Michigan. Thousands more across the region reckoned with the impact of Wednesday's weather.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down at about 1:05 p.m. Wednesday in the Macomb County community of Fraser. It said the tornado downed large limbs near Kelly Road between 14 Mile and 15 Mile roads. The agency did not yet have information on the tornado's strength early Thursday.
It appeared Wednesday's tornado did most of its damage in the area east of Klein Road and north of 14 Mile. Trees and branches were strewn about in some spots or had been cut into smaller logs and stacked neatly at the curb in others. Shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday, a few residents ventured outside and began cleaning up debris left by the tornado and storm around their homes. A trampoline remained wrapped around a guy wire on Adolph Avenue.
Pine trees had been tossed around Griessel's backyard, and the tornado knocked down a power line. It also downed an electrical line and put it in a neighbor's pool.
"They won't let me go in the backyard for safety reasons," Greissel said.
It also ripped off the home's electrical service head, the termination point where electrical wires enter the building, he said. A generator was running in his driveway Thursday morning.
Griessel said he stayed home from work on Thursday to fill out forms to make an insurance claim.
He said he's lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and had never seen anything like Wednesday's tornado there before. "We've had bad storms come through and we've lost power for a day or two before," he said. "But nothing of this magnitude has come through."
Griessel said he hopes his power is back on, the debris is cleaned up, and all of the necessary repairs to his house are made soon. "We're supposed to host a graduation party for our daughter in three weeks," he said.
Lou Call, one of Griessel's neighbors a street over, said she was standing at the front door of her home on Vista Way east of Adolph and saw the sky grow dark before the tornado touched down Wednesday.
"You could see the storm was coming in," the 63-year-old said Thursday from the same spot. "With all the branches and leaves swirling up above the houses, it looked like we were getting a little tornado."
But her home looked unscathed on Thursday morning. She also was happy to report she only lost power on Wednesday for a few hours, and the lights came back on at about 9 p.m.
"I was on my roof this morning," she said. "I had to put the chimney cap back on."
She also said she had a few things in the backyard that were broken, but that was the extent of the damage to her home that she could see.
Call said she heard her neighbors across the street, and a large part of the neighborhood, were still in the dark on Thursday.
She said she's lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and never heard of a tornado visiting. The lifelong Fraser resident said the only thing she could think of that was close was a windstorm that toppled trees into her backyard in the mid-90s. "A 75-foot tree came down on my garage," she said.
Call was philosophical about the damage left by the storm. "It's Mother Nature," she said. "What are you going to do?"
The state has averaged about 13 tornadoes per year over the past three decades, but had already seen 25 by mid-May, according to the weather service. Wednesday's twister in Fraser brought the annual total to 29, according to a CBS News Detroit report.
Not far from Griessel and Call's homes, Cheryl LaCasse was on her front porch taking a quick break from work on Thursday morning. Like Call's home, the tornado didn't touch her home on Grettel Avenue, she said.
"I work from home and was here when it happened," LaCasse said. "It started raining and the power went out at about 1:05 p.m. I figured it was just a storm. I had no idea.
"I was surprised to learn later that we had a tornado pass through here. I've been here 20 years and I don't remember a tornado hitting so close."
But then, LaCasse said, her husband texted her that there was a tornado warning for the area and said to take the dog into the basement. She said the power came back on at her house at about 9:30 p.m.
She said the storm only caused a little flooding in the basement. "That's an easy clean-up. It was an inconvenience, but nothing nearly as bad as what other people had."
After the twister passed, LaCasse said she took a walk through the neighborhood to check on her neighbors at about 4 or 5 p.m. "It was crazy," she said. "I work in insurance, and I just kept thinking 'Oh my God, this is bad.'"
LaCasse said she also saw neighbors helping other neighbors clean up after the tornado.
"This is an amazing community and a fantastic subdivision," she said. "I saw people outside having a beer and laughing with a tree in front of their house, and they're just like: 'It is what it is.'"
Call, Griessel, and LaCasse all said on Thursday that they were glad that no one reported any injuries.
Flooding was reported in some neighborhoods elsewhere, as the weather service had warned could happen.
The largest amount of rain in Macomb County — 5.07 inches — fell around Elizabeth and Dunham roads in Clinton Township, according to the county Public Works Department's Rainfall Data Map. Nearly 5 inches fell in the area of the township at 18 Mile and Garfield roads, it said.
Early Thursday, more than 6,900 DTE customers across southeast Michigan were without power, according to the company's outage map. It said that about 99.7% of its customers had power at about 8:45 a.m. By 2 p.m., the number fell to about 5,800.
Meanwhile, Consumers Energy reported that service was interrupted to more than 4,300 customers across the state. It also said 99.7% of its customers had power at 8:45 a.m. By 2 p.m., the number was about 6,300.
As the region recovers, more rain is slated to close out the work week ahead of nearly 100-degree heat.
More rain is on the way possibly Friday and Saturday, according to the weather service forecast.
Meteorologists at the agency said there's a 30% to 40% chance for isolated showers and scattered rain with some thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening. They said they're not expecting severe weather, but wind gusts of 45 mph to 55 mph and hail under an inch are possible.
Detroit's high temperature on Thursday is expected to hit 75 degrees. The city's average monthly temperature in June is 79.7.
Rain could repeat in Detroit on Friday and Saturday, according to the weather service. Its meteorologists calculate that the chances for rain on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning are about 20% to 40%.
The temperature will also begin climbing. It's predicted to reach a high of 85 degrees on Friday and then jump to 92 degrees on Saturday.
But the heat gets turned up on Sunday, according to the agency's Detroit weather forecast. The forecast calls for a high temperature of 97 degrees on both Sunday and Monday. Officials also said humid conditions will push heat indices to or above 100 degrees.
Extended Detroit forecast
Thursday: Showers likely; high 75, low 61.
Friday: Mostly sunny; high 85, low 69.
Saturday: Mostly sunny; high 92, low 75.
Sunday: Sunny; high 97, low 76.
Monday: Sunny; high 97, low 76.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny; high 95, low 71.
Wednesday: Partly sunny; high 89.
Source: National Weather Service
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