Resident surprised to learn Saturday tornado started in his front yard
By Kent Davis
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GLADWIN COUNTY, Michigan (WJRT) — The Gladwin County community is cleaning up after a tornado blew through the area in a 10.5-mile line.
The Saturday afternoon tornado was an EF-1: the second weakest on the scale.
Residents count themselves lucky that the worst of the damage was restricted to power lines and fallen trees.
Butman resident Curtis Langer told ABC12 his family got home just as the storm arrived practically in their front yard.
He stepped outside to bring them in from the rain just as the winds picked up.
“It was pretty wild. I had an umbrella and it just totally destroyed that thing. Winds picked it right off of me and twisted the whole thing up. We got wet. That was okay. We just went into the house and got out of the way,” he recalled.
Langer said he didn’t even realize he was under a tornado until he looked at social media Monday morning.
Despite his home sitting right at the co-ordinates where the weather service says the storm started, it suffered only minor damage.
“It broke some vinyl, it took some shingles off. And it um, hit the fascia and that, so it’s all bent,” said Langer, before adding that the winds also smashed his childrens’ trampoline into a tree.
He had heard it would rain, but only expected a shower.
Gladwin’s Emergency Manager Robert North said this is why people need to keep up on the weather.
“A severe thunderstorm can spawn a tornado before anyone has time to react. You need to heed your local warnings… I recommend a weather app on your phone, maybe two,” North advised.
And after a life of growing up with extreme storms in Florida, Langer has a few reminders of his own.
“You want to get into a room that’s safe, where you have a good structural wall, and away from glass,” he suggested.
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