Cass County residents survey the damage from powerful Summer storm

 

MARCELLUS, Mi. -- “All heck broke loose on the weather," said area resident Tom Chupp, describing the powerful Summer storm that rolled through late last night. "Never thought this was going to happen.”

Marcellus residents were in disbelief, as they saw the damage left behind.  

“Shingles on our roof have been taken off, we lost a door to our barn, a roof on our barn, lots of water damage, and obviously the trees," said Brittney Beadle, gesturing to her yard covered in branches and trees broken in half by the strong winds. She added "A lean-to that my horses stay in, that has blown across the road."

Beadle and her husband were out in their fields when it started to storm. They said so many trees had come down on the road back to their house, they needed to cut their way through with chainsaws.

“We were literally five minutes from here, but it took us hours to get here," she said.

Now, their yard is in shambles, and the power to their house might not be restored for several days.

Brittney and their dog, Timber, were keeping cool by sitting in the shade. Fortunately, they have a generator to power their appliances. 

Just east of town, residents like the Schwartz's had bigger problems to contend with-- an entire barn on their property was obliterated in the high winds. Pieces of it even blew into the nearby soccer field at Marcellus High School. 

A large tree also fell in their yard-- just barely missing the house.

Tom Chupp wasn't so lucky. 

“A tree came down. Took out the front porch off the house. Landed on the roof of the house. Caught the neighbor’s house. Caught the neighbor’s car," Chupp said. "This one’s gonna be a pain.”

Adding insult to injury-- the tree was set to be cut down by the Village of Marcellus, who feared it would land on someone's home.

Luckily no one was injured when the tree came down.

Chupp himself doesn't live on the property-- though he owns the home. 

Now he has to wait until the city can get a crew to start cutting the tree up before he can survey the damage, which he believes will be extensive.

“The roof’s gonna have to be torn off. Re-rafted and re-decked and re-shingled. It’s gonna be quite the little project," he said. "It’s just a tree. The house will get fixed and we’ll move on.”

Chupp is considering hiring a lawyer to get the city to remove the tree and help pay for the damages to the home, if need be, though he hopes it will not come to that.