MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — The old oaks toppled onto houses and fell into streets, a domino effect of destruction.
On Tuesday morning, a wave of severe thunderstorms made nearly half the roads in Muskegon County impassable with downed power lines spread across many of them, according to Muskegon County Emergency Services and Michigan State Police (MSP).
Muskegon County update.
— MSP Sixth District (@mspwestmi) June 25, 2024
The Emergency Operations Center has activated.
Northern areas of the County have been greatly impacted.
Police, Fire, EMS, tree crews, power line crews, and road crews are very busy. Please only call 911 if you have a life-threatening emergency.
ROADS (See… pic.twitter.com/h3T099th3p
Hours after these straight-line winds tore through the area, Muskegon County activated its Emergency Operations Center to coordinate the cleaning up of debris, clearing of roads, and restoration of power.
If you have property that was damaged in the storm, you can submit a report to the Emergency Operations Center through their online portal.
"This sounds like a train. This is not good," said Whitehall resident Jackie Fisher, describing the wind.
Fisher and her husband, Bruce Dempsey, live on Country Club Drive, a street hard hit by the storm.
Fallen trees "punched in" the couple's garage and backyard shed, also shattering their kitchen window. In every direction, cars parked on their street were totaled and some houses had significant roof damage. Branches were everywhere but where they should have been.
"As you can see, many of them are gone," Dempsey said about the neighborhood's oak trees.
"[They were] one of the things we loved about moving here," Fisher added.
Nearby, though, neighbors got to work, the grating teeth of chainsaws clearing a path.
"I can’t stand around, never really been that way," said Joshua Woodard, a delivery driver for Auto Value. "Honestly, it’s worth getting out, meeting people. I don’t mind the workout. I’m not afraid to get dirty.”
While driving his route near Whitehall, Woodard came across a section of road blocked by a number of trees. He and a group of mostly strangers got out of their cars and reopened the road themselves.
"It’s a good thing to do," said Tom Robinson, trying to return home. "It ain’t going to get done by itself. Why not help out the community we live in?"
Officials provided an update Tuesday afternoon on the storm damage in Muskegon County. We're told two people were hurt because of the storm, both of them involving fallen trees.
The first injury occurred from a car crash near US-31 and White Lake Drive. The second person was hurt when a tree fell on top of them as they were jogging.
Numerous roads were still closed due to blockage from debris or downed wires. Efforts are underway to clear the roads, but officials explain that process can be complicated.
"It's a really difficult situation right now is we have those downed power lines," says Lt. Michelle Robinson with MSP. "We want to ensure that no one is clearing any debris off a roadway or anything along that so that they're not causing damage to themselves or harm to themselves."
"We have fire crews throughout Muskegon County, boots on the ground, going through neighborhoods and assessing the damage and doing whatever they got to do to work with the road commission on getting these roadways opened up," says Norton Shores Fire Chief Robert Gagnon.
Watch the full press conference here:
Those who need services like food or temporary housing are advised to call 211.
READ MORE: FOX 17 follows tree removal company through post-storm cleanup efforts
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