BY LARRY SOBCZAK
EDITOR
A tornado touched down in Armada Township Saturday evening leaving a quarter mile wide path of destruction from Coon Creek Road through the village of Armada to western Richmond Township.
As of press time, meteorologists from the National Weather Service Office in White Lake Township were still conducting field surveys to confirm the tornado.
The destruction was most dramatic in the Village of Armada where the twister had traveled northeastward along West Main Street and destroyed a building east of the Coon Creek bridge.
The tornado, which occurred around 8 p.m., caused only mild damage to the central business district as the brunt of the storm struck one half block north.
Memorial Park on Fulton Street was in a shambles with a tree laying on top of the band shell.
A large tree was knocked over in the front lawn of the Armada Area Schools building.
The tornado crossed the Armada Fairgrounds. There is no word on how this may affect the Armada Fair which is scheduled to begin in three weeks.
West Main, Simmons, Tietz, Prospect and Burk streets were impassible Sunday morning with a tangle of tree limbs and utility wires blocking each street.
Downed utility poles blocked Armada Center Road in front of Krause Elementary School as well as Armada Ridge Road between True Road and the western village limits.
Anita and Terry Downing arrived home on Burk Street just as a severe thunderstorm blew in from the north.
“We got home and things just started flying around,” Terry Downing said.
Tree limbs fell on the Downing’s GMC Terrain parked in the driveway, totaling the vehicle.
A century-old tree was uprooted in their front yard taking the sidewalk with it.
Their house sustained damage to its roof, siding and windows.
Friends and family arrived early Sunday morning with chainsaws to clear away the debris.
“This is just wonderful what people are doing,” Anita Downing said as she watched the volunteers clear a path to her front door.
Amazingly, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said there were no reports of injuries or deaths from the storm as of Sunday morning.
OFFICIAL TORNADO REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
| Date | July 24, 2021 |
| Time (Local) | 7:54 PM – 8:08 PM EDT |
| EF Rating | EF-1 |
| Est. Peak Winds | 105 mph |
| Path Length | 3.6 miles |
| Max Width | 700 yards |
| Injuries/Deaths | 0/0 |
| Summary:
A tornado touched down just southwest of the city of Armada, around the intersection of 34 MI and Armada Ridge Rd. Initial damage consisted of plentiful tree damage and sporadic roofing damage mainly to shingles. Initial damage was consistent with an EF-0 tornado. Tornado then increased in strength to an EF-1 tornado on Main St on the west side of Armada. Damage in the city consisted of massive tree damage with uprooted and sheared trees. Several residential homes observed shingle damage, with a couple of houses exhibiting more severe damage to the roofing structure with the upper walls then collapsing. The tornado then tracked northeast towards the school complexes in town, dropping in intensity down to EF-0. Damage observed at this point included several uprooted trees and large limbs snapped. The tornado then continued north-northeast toward Omo and Florence Rd, restrengthening to an EF-1, where a residential home lost a large section of roofing. The tornado briefly continued up Omo Rd before lifting. |
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