Multiple emergency crews cleaned debris and repaired power lines damaged by two tornadoes in Lake County on Saturday.
The tornadoes touched down Tuesday evening. The first, a zero on the Enhanced Fujita Tornado Damage Scale, hit Baldwin around 7:28 p.m. with maximum winds hitting 85 mph. Winds in the second tornado, an EF-1, reached 100 miles per hour in Idlewild two minutes later.
“As the reports came in, it seemed like every line in the county was getting hit by a tree,” said Lake County Sheriff Rich Martin.
More than 3,000 customers in Lake County remain in the dark as of Saturday morning. Consumers Energy reported fewer than 500 powerless customers and Great Lakes Energy said more 2,900 of its local customers' systems are not functioning.
Kevin Ridge, who lives at the edge of Baldwin near Idlewild, said the second tornado hit just outside his yard, knocking down more than 200 trees on his five-acre plot.
“It looked like a war zone,” Ridge said. “I haven’t seen anybody out here to check on us, and we’ve been without power since Tuesday.”
There was the threat of more severe weather on Saturday, and the location of some homes slowed power restoration efforts, said Eric Gustad, community affairs manager for Consumers Energy.
“These secondary lines aren’t running along the right of way,” Gustad said. “They’re deep in the woods. They’re in areas where they’re hard to get to with a lot of trees down. And now the storm pulling back in is really affecting our crews to get back out there.”
Nearly 20 people registered to stay at the Red Cross shelter at Baldwin High School Saturday night. The shelter will close Sunday, but volunteers at nearby Webber Township say the building on West Springtime Street will stay open for residents.
“[We’ll stay open] as long as we need to,” said Kylyn McCavitt, an auxiliary member of the Webber Township Fire Department. “We’ll provide food and water and stuff like that for people who still don’t have power. If they have to stay, we’ll have the room for them.”
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, visited the shelter and spoke with emergency responders at the Baldwin-White Cloud Ranger Station for the Huron Manistee National Forest. Storm damage has temporarily closed the station and multiple tourism sites.
Huizenga said he will advocate for emergency funding from the state and federal governments, citing a major impact on the tourism industry in Lake County.
“Lake County is really one of the most used recreational counties in the state,” he said. “It’s got kind of everything: Pere Marquette River, and we know the salmon run is going to be happening soon. And the folks that come specifically for that, we need to make sure that it’s open. And it’s hard to quantify that impact when [funding] is denied.”
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