By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
OWENDALE —The second wave of three waves of thunderstorms that hit the Thumb area on Sunday caused extensive damage in Owendale.
Photo by Mary Drier
The EF-1 tornado that hit the village of Owendale about 6:44 p.m. Sunday tossed a commercial trailer onto the roof of Kuhl Construction Company on Main Street. Larry Kuhl, whose business in Sebewaing was destroyed by a fire in January, was in the process of restarting his business in the new building.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down at 6:44 p.m. in southern Huron County. High winds destroyed a camper and a barn, lifted a commercial trailer on top of a business’s roof, uprooted trees and damaged the Owendale-Gagetown school.
The National Weather Service rated the tornado as EF-1, with estimated peak winds of 90 mph. The tornado’s path was 7.1 miles long with a maximum width of 100 yards.
It touched down at 6:39 p.m., about 2.7 miles west of Owendale and ended at 6:44 p.m., 4.4 miles east of the village.
Alan and Brenda Kretzschmer had a 30-foot, fifth-wheel camper destroyed that was parked in a grassy area between the Owendale-Gagetown school and Kuhl Construction.
“We had it parked there because we wanted to sell it and upgrade to a different one. The wind picked up the camper and dropped it down (smashing it),” Brenda Kretzschmer said.
About 100 feet west of the destroyed camper, the wind picked up a commercial trailer and dropped it down on the roof of Kuhl Construction. It is estimated the trailer weighed about 1,500 pounds. The wind also caused extensive damage to that building.
Larry Kuhl of Kuhl Construction was in the process of buying the building to relocate his business.
His previous business at 117 Mason Street, Sebewaing, was destroyed by fire Jan. 27.
Kuhl was preparing to bring his six employees back to work when tragedy stuck again, and he said he is unsure how to move forward.
“It’s up to the insurance companies,” he said, noting both he and the seller have insurance on the building.
The Owendale-Gagetown School also sustained damage.
According to Kretzschmer, who is also on the Owen-Gage school board, there is damage to windows in the library, the gym roof and there is also rain damage to the gym floor. Debris is also strewn throughout the yard.
The district replaced the gym’s roof and did other repairs last year with money from a bond issue to do upgrades.
The weather service explained the tornado weakened to EF-0 before strengthening again to EF-1 with 90 mph winds and a width of 100 yards upon entering Owendale. It touched down about a quarter-mile west of the intersection of Sebewaing Road and Shebeon Road. The tornado traveled along or just north of Sebewaing Road as it moved eastward.
The tornado lifted just north of the intersection of Sebewaing Road and Elkton.
An EF-0 has winds of 65 tp 85 mph and an EF-1 has winds of 86 to 110 mph.
Also along Sebewaing Road about halfway between Sebewaing and Owendale, a barn on the north side of the road was destroyed, and a house on the south side had the roof soffet ripped off.
To the east of the village, Noah’s Ark Children’s Amusement Park on Farver Road was also damaged.
The storm also caused damage in surrounding communities. The village of Gagetown and the village of Sebewaing had trees, limbs and some power lines down. A lightning strike hit the copula at Christ the King Lutheran School, Sebewaing, but didn’t cause a fire.
Despite the damage and no tornado warning issued, no injuries were reported.