Gallery: Storm causes widespread damage in Niles Township
Published 9:27 am Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Ron and Sallie Johnson were watching the storm out their bay window when a large tree limb fell onto the roof of their home at 1835 S. 13th St. in Niles Township.
“All I saw was the wind and the branches and I backed away,” Ron said. “I heard it hit and part of it scraped the window. We are lucky it didn’t break.”
Approximately a mile south of the Johnsons’ home, Jim Hoyt was using a saw to cut a path through down branches that were impeding traffic in front of his home at 1301 Emerald Drive.
“I didn’t see much other than the wind and rain coming down real hard,” he said. “I’m lucky, though. I just put a new roof on [my house] and it didn’t touch it.”
Scenes like this were all too common after a powerful, but brief thunderstorm blew through the Niles area Monday afternoon, causing numerous downed trees and power lines.
More than 7,500 people were without power in Berrien County as of 4 p.m. according to an online power outage map at indianamichiganpower.com. More than 24,000 were without power in the area serviced by Indiana Michigan Power, which includes several counties in Indiana and Michigan.
Damage was widespread in the Fulkerson Park area in Niles Township where vehicles had difficulty passing through streets due to tree limbs blocking the roadways. Fulkerson Road east of South 13th was completely impassible due to a tree that fell across the road.
The storm also caused flash flooding in some areas, including at the entrance to the Franklin Woods manufactured home community on South 13th Street.
Sara Carpenter, who lives in lot four with Chris Austin, could be seen carrying a young girl, Khloe, through knee deep water toward the entrance.
Carpenter and Austin parked their sports utility vehicle at the entrance to warn people from attempting to drive through the water, which was a few feet deep in some areas. Not everyone took their advice. One person’s vehicle stalled, while others made it through.
“It is just outrageous,” Carpenter said of the storm.
Chief Gary Brovold, of the Niles Township Fire Department, said he was not aware of any injuries in Niles Township reported due to the storm as of 4:45 p.m.
Chief Larry Lamb, of the Niles Fire Department, said he was not aware of any injuries in Niles. Lamb said a lightning strike caused a basement wall to collapse at home in the 300 block of South Third Street.
