When a tree fell in the yard of their home on the corner of 15th and Francis streets in Port Huron, Alexandria Essenmacher said the whole house shook. Her family stood in the living room and watched it fall.
“It was like a big jolt of energy for all of us,” she said.
John Diaz, who lives across the street, said he was watching TV when all of the sudden everything started sparking. He got up and noticed the tree was down, and his neighbors were all running out to see what had happened.
“I checked on the neighbors and made sure everybody was OK,” Diaz said. “Other than that, not much you can do.”
When he realized the power would be out for a prolonged period of time, the first thing he did was go to the hardware store and buy a generator.
During a press conference nearby, City Manager James Freed said cleanup from Wednesday's windstorms would not be quick.
"This is not an event that will be taken care of in a few hours," Freed said."The cleanup is literally going to take two or three weeks."
Freed said the storm, which seemed to have hit St. Clair County particularly hard, left no corner of Port Huronunscathed, bringing down numerous trees and hundreds of power lines. Trees are blocking multiple intersections and blocks in the city, he said, and numerous traffic lights are non-operational.
"We're going to have to do debris cleanup throughout the entire city," Freed said. "There was not one section of this city that was spared fromthis damage."
He said Thursday morningabout 30,000 DTE customers in St. Clair County have been affected by power outages.
DTE hopes to restore power to 60% of its customers across its entire coverage area by the end of the day Thursday and 95% by the end of the day Friday, according to a company press release.
Freed said reports of damage began at about 11 a.m. Wednesday. The city saw sustained winds of 40 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph.
Yard waste from the storm like downed twigs and branches will be collected by the city at no cost to residents, however, Freed urgedresidents to be patient as the city is working with contractors stretched by the storm.
How to keep your family safe during cleanup, power outages
Port Huron Fire Chief Corey Nicholson urged residents to stay away from downed power lines and trees that may have lines wrapped in them. Do not cross caution tape if you see downed lines or trees. If you see a downed line or tree that is not marked off by cautiontape, do not approach it andcall 911, he said.
If you use a generator, do not use it inside your home, in a garage, or near an overhang. Do not back feed powerto run the generator, only use a rated electrical extension cord or a transfer switch. Do not refill a gas generator while it is running, Nicholson said.
If your lights start to flicker or are dim this could be a brown-out. Turn off your main breaker if this happens to avoid damage to your home's electrical system andappliances, Nicholson said.
If you hear popping or smell smoke inside your home, leave immediately and call 911, hesaid.
Port Huron Police Chief Joe Platzer told residents to treat non-operational traffic signals as four-way stops to avoid traffic crashes.
Freed said a DTE emergency response vehicle with ice, water and other free emergency supplies will be parked from noon to 6 p.m. Thursday in the north lot of McMorran Place.
The Municipal Office Center has power andis also open to the public, Freed said.
DPW Director/City Engineer Eric Witter said the storm did not affect the city's drinking water or sanitary systems. A discharge of partially treated wastewater occurred late Wednesday night, but the issue was fixed at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, he said.
Surviving storm damage
Port Huron residentJeni Hayward-Gehlmann is lucky to be alive.
Hayward-Gehlmann was standing on her front porch in the 3200 block of Gratiot Avenueduring Wednesday night's windstorms when she heard a loud crack. She ran to the back of the house as a large tree fell where she had been standing moments before.
"The whole house shook," she said.
The tree caused extensive damage to her front porch and structural damage to herattic, which had been turned into the master bedroom. She said she is devastated because they take pride in their home and scared by the near-death experience.
“Do not mess with mother nature," she said. "It was a very scary moment. If I had frozen and just watched it I would be dead."
Power outages cause county buildings, local schools to close
The St. Clair County Health Department and Day Treatment/Night Watch are closed for the day due to power outages, according to a press release from the county. All other county buildings are open.
DTE is estimating the two buildings will have power restored by 10 p.m. Thursday.
The Fort Gratiot County Park is closed Thursday to clear debris from the storms and make repairs. Park staff will continue to assess damage throughout the county park system and make updates as necessary, according to the county.
St. Clair County Community College, Port Huron Area School District, Algonac Community Schools, Marysville Public SchoolsandYale Public Schools are also closed Thursday due to power outages.
The YMCA of the Blue Water Area is also closed Thursday.
Nicholson said the fire department responded to 136 calls for service during the duration of the storm, including a structure fire in the 800 block of Erie Street, another structure fire on Conger Street,overloaded wiring with smoke in the house on West Village Drive, numerous downed trees and power lines, blown transformers, fire alarms and a handful of medical-related calls.
While there was more substantial damage to the home on Erie Street, Nicholson said he believes both homes will be livable after cleanup.
There were no injuries related to the storm, he said.
Nicholson said the fire department brought in several off-duty crews for the storm and used mutual aid from Port Huron Township and Fort Gratiot fire departments.
Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or lfitzgeral@gannett.com. Contact Brian Wells at (810) 357-8668 or bwells@gannett.com.
