GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Trees launched into roadways, power lines down and intersections without working stoplights were all components of the scene many Grand Rapids residents found after severe storms swept through the area Tuesday morning.
"We had a lot of impact in regards to trees just coming down, wires down," Grand Rapids Emergency Management Administrator Allison Farole said. "We did have a few structure fires that our fire department did respond to, but we, within a couple hours, we were able to get things under control pretty swiftly."
One neighbor on Ashland Avenue had their car crushed under the weight of a fallen tree.
For another home off of Maryland Avenue, a fallen tree landed on their roof.
"Checking in with the National Weather Service this morning, it looked like our wind speed, our wind gusts got up to about 65, 68 miles per hour," Farole said. "So, there was pretty significant, for a little while, lots of lightning and thunder."
And on the city's southeast side that was hit particularly hard, some stoplights and city buildings went without power due to what the city identified as a circuit outage.
"We're asking everyone to treat any dark signals or intersections as a four way stop for safety measures," Farole said.
While crews were able to move quickly, Farole said the storm was an example of why to sign up for the city's emergency alert system to keep one step ahead.
"Signing up for the city's emergency alert system allows you to receive notifications of severe thunderstorm warnings and other type of watches or warnings, so that you are aware of any severe weather coming into the area that may impact you, your event, your home, anything like that, your business," Farole said.
Anyone living or working in the city can register for that alert system on the city's website.
13 ON YOUR SIDE will also be keeping you weather aware with 13 Plus app alerts, as well as both on-air and online.
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