HOLLY, Mich. (WXYZ) — Powerful storms swept across Metro Detroit yesterday, bringing an EF-1 tornado to Wayne County and severe flooding to Holly that submerged roads and properties.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down Saturday in Van Buren Township and Belleville.
Surveillance video from DeBuck’s Family Farm in Belleville captured the storm rolling through.
"A tornado or something just took the back of my barn off and we were like, 'Oh, we better come take a look,' and this is what we saw," Eric DeBuck said.
In Holly, severe flooding left cars stuck in the water and inundated residential backyards. North Holly Road, one of the main routes into the village, flooded, forcing drivers to find detours. At least one vehicle was completely submerged.
"The road had flooded over in the past and they put barricades up and usually people don’t go through it… the holiday weekend who knows, they’re getting to church or something, thought they could walk on water, who knows," Chrissy Kutlenios said.
Kutlenios has lived on North Holly Road for 42 years. She said Saturday’s thunderstorms turned her backyard into a wetland.
"We’ve never, never had a stream running through our backyard," Kutlenios said.
"The water is above our fence line right now and we have six pastures back there and they’re all over water," Kutlenios said.
Kutlenios said she was worried about the water impacting her 18 horses.
"If it becomes stagnant, it becomes very dangerous because bugs and things grow in and bacteria," Kutlenios said.
"We can’t pump it out, basically we just have to let mother nature do her thing and see what happens," Kutlenios said.
On Grange Hall Road in Holly, a pond inside a mobile home park flooded. The water rose to the steps of one family’s home.
"We had to shut off power to the air conditioning cause it was under water, electrical was under water," Paul Leopard whose son lives in the mobile home park said.
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