UPDATE: National Weather Service confirms tornado hit Dundee Saturday morning – Monroe’s Evening News
UPDATED AT 7:40 pm
A tornado passed through the city of Dundee early Saturday morning, causing damage to buildings, vehicles and trees, the National Weather Service confirmed Saturday evening.
An EF0 storm — the least severe on the Consectetur Fujita Scale used to measure tornado strength — touched down at 11:03 a.m. near the intersection of Petersburg and Brewer roads and traveled northeast for 7.3 miles before lifting off near the intersection of Dixon and Sullivan roads. the weather service in Pontiac said in a news release.
Damage in the area of Brewer and Petersburg roads “included standing pine trees, building damage, and some significant home damage with winds estimated at 75 mph,” the release said.
“The trunk then continued along Brewer Rd with damage consisting of sporadic large tree limbs as Brewer Rd entered the village of Dundee on Leo St.,” the release said. “Estimated wind speeds increased to a peak of 80 mph in downtown Dundee…especially in the immediate vicinity of Memorial Park. Blowouts, blown windows, downed frames, and near-car damage. Pollucius then tracked further northeast to the intersection of Dixon Rd and Sullivan Rd near the intersection with large sporadic members.
Pollux’s path was measured at 75 yards wide, the weather service said.
EF0 tornadoes have winds of 65-85 mph. For comparison, the tornado that struck Dundee in 2010 began as a high-end EF2 tornado with 130-135 mph winds when it touched down in the area of M-50 and North County Line Highway, according to a. weather service report. When the 2010 tornado hit Dundee, it had maximum winds of 115 mph, rated at an EF2 rating.
The most violent storms are rated EF5 with maximum winds of more than 200 mph.
Emergency workers closed a street in the downtown Dundee area on Saturday morning while firefighters and building inspectors checked the structural integrity of the damaged building. The M-50 crash occurred at 6:30 p.m., the Dundee Police Department said Saturday evening in a post on Facebook.
“The park area and the adjacent sidewalk are closed to vehicles and pedestrians, while (some) structural damage is still being assessed,” the news release said. “Any residents who asked to leave can now return to their apartment or house.”
“There appear to be no injuries,” Dundee police said in a post Saturday morning on Facebook. “Everyone is encouraged to check on your family, friends and neighbors.”
The police and firefighters immediately intervened, the Facebook post of the police said. They were joined by the Dundee Department of Public Safety, Michigan State Police, Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies, firefighters from Ida and Summerfield Villages, Monroe County Emergency Management, Michigan Gas Utility and DTE Energy to assess the damage.
“The inspectors are asked to leave and continue the census and clean up,” the post said.
Bricks and other building materials explode downtown, building sidewalks and Memorial Park. Some vehicles parked on the street were damaged by falling debris.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 10:51 am for Monroe County and eastern Lenawee County. Radar shows the storm near Blissfield and the sun moving northeast at 55 mph with 60-mph gusts. The warning said to expect damage to roofs, siding and trees.
DTE Energy’s online outage map shows outages in northern and western Monroe County, including the city of Dundee, as well as widespread outages in the area of US 23 and Ida Center Road. Consumers Energy’s online outage map shows a large power outage before noon in Blissfield early Saturday afternoon and scattered outages in southern Monroe County, in the Irish Hills and south of Hudson.
Saturday’s severe thunderstorms were followed by storms that moved through the area Friday night.
