The tornado that hit Gaylord on Fridayafternoon was classified as an EF-3, the largest ever to hit northern Michigan. It was on the ground for 16.6 miles with max winds of 150 miles an hour. It hit the far west end of town and then traveled on through the residential neighborhoods before heading out ibto more sparsely spread areas. I am 10 miles away from where it hit roughly, but it took down the power grid that supply’s power to the southern areas of the county. tbere are two power companies here and mine was affected, from Gaylord to about 25 miles south and about 3-4 miles wide area. So I played tent camper during that tine
I always keep bottled water here so no issue there . Remember, I am on a well, not City services. I used that to wash up and brush teeth etc. Being there’s a lake across the road, ai had access to wzter to flush my toilets. I put perishable stuff from my refrigerator into a steel belted cooler with ice and my freezer was holding it’s own. By the time the power came back in, I only threw out a couple bags of frozen veggies that got mushy. No big deal there. Sunce my stove was electric, I opted to eat up at the deli a couple miles from here as thry had power. They have hot foods as well as salads. Don’t have to tell you Thry we’re super busy. Thry thought Thry we’re going to run out of food because the Gordon Foods store her which supplies food and supplies to the food industry and public here was damaged. But a couple of good friends of theirs, made a 200 mile round trip to another one and brought back needed supplies to keep thrm going. Their food truck will arrive today. Many of you have probably seen pictures of the destruction. I will post some in that General talk thread later this evening. But yes Beth, the RV place is a total loss. Tbere we’re 180 RV’s on the lot and 101 wound up in top of each other. It is fortunate the because the tornado hit the west end of town, we only lost a half a dozen businesses that were destroyed or severely damaged and a few others nesr them were damaged, but repairable. However, the mobile home park on the outskirts of town has been 95% destroyed, 2 people were killed there and there have been 44 injured, some are critical. Homes have been either destroyed or damaged in the exact path area.
But, this community is known for it’s helpfulness and caring and within un hours, people were already asking, what can we do, where can we stsrt and offers of help we’re pouring in from all over Michigan. On Saturdsy morning, tbe Sheriffs work camp said anybody wanting to help, meet there at 8 a.m. 200 people showed up and a bit later more came, and people started coming in from other areas with trucks, trailers, equipment, chainsaws etc. These people along with the community members went to work. The utility trucks came from all over to start restoring power and emergency responders came from far and wide. I am proud to say, that the efforts of all of these, have gotten Gaylord back up and running in 48 hours. All businesses are operating, power has been restored except for the hard hit residential area the which of They we’re working in yesterday. Everyone is amazed at how much has been accomplished in a short time. Because the tornado hit the western edge, 90% of our businesses are fine. Donations are pouring in. Within hours of the hit on Friday, one of the churches opened up for an emergency shelter, the Red Cross moved in and set up shop. On Saturday, Lowes running on a generator, was giving out needed materials to help with damaged homes, Walmart gave food to a local restaurant to BBQ outside and give away to anyone who wanted it since the business district was shut down. People who had power iPhone water or whatever else anybody needed, a couple of more restaurants in one of the hotels jumped in on the barbecue thing and consumers energy sent up a couple of food trucks.Our Meijer store was the I only gas station and grocery store open due to their location and a different power grid. They dropped their gas to $4.29 and corporate shipped up more bottled water and other stuff to keep the necessities stocked. The outpouring of support from businesses and others is way to much to mention in here. It will be a long haul to recover for many people, there will be more grief to come in kiss of homes and livelihoods and probably individuals who are critically injured. Some businesses are going to suffer the loss of food stuff from the power outage. But we will come back, better and stronger. It’s an amazing community and I’m proud to live here. I heard that remark from a lot of people yesterday.
I have taken up enough space here and I need to get going as I want to go to town and round up some stuff to add to the pile of donations that are pouring in and I need a couple things myself. I love you have a wonderful day and thank you again so much
