Tornado in Sterling, MI

HeyJude · 08-30-2018, 04:38 PM

What an interesting few days. We are at Outdoor Adventures Campground in Sterling, Mi. We are right on Rifle River. Tuesday night we had a tornado rip through here. Only one injury, several campers damaged and one brand new truck smashed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life! Our camper lifted up with the wind, we didn’t have a chance to get to the shelter. I grabbed my dogs and went into our bathroom. It only lasted a few minutes, but that had to be the scariest few minutes of my life. Watch the weather folks, we knew a storm was coming but never suspected a tornado. I’m amazed at how fast the crew here cleaned this place up. Half the campground will be without power till Friday night, since the storm took out a mile or more of power poles. Luckily we have a generator.
The campground next to ours across the river is completely shut down now for the season. No kayaking or tubing,since the river is full of trees now...

Santabobswife · 08-31-2018, 08:02 AM

Glad you are safe. Tornados come quickly.

Wiscampsin · 08-31-2018, 08:47 AM

We had a total of 16 tornadoes in Wisconsin on Tuesday. Luckily they were all below EF3 and although there was alot of property damage no reported injuries.

BandJCarm · 08-31-2018, 09:02 AM

Some kind of 'haint' blew through sometime last night in Spearfish, SD. I thought the trailer was going to end up in Kansas. Didn't last long. Odd.

Kevin & Judy · 08-31-2018, 09:13 AM

We have a place in Sterling on the rifle river. About 1/2 mile up stream from outdoor adventure. I had not hear about the Tornado until I read this post. Hopefully it is ok but will not know until we can get up to see. That will be in a few weeks. Glad to hear all are OK. Hopefully the one injury you mentioned that they are OK.

rlh1957 · 08-31-2018, 01:09 PM

Those winds in SD really kick up when there is no storm, and when a storm does come up a rig is just at the mercy of the wind!

valleyduo · 08-31-2018, 01:23 PM

I will confess we have not always even known where the shelters were at some campgrounds we've stayed at. Glad you guys made it out alright. Campgrounds are a rough spot to ride out bad storms.

elchilero53 · 08-31-2018, 01:36 PM

We're very glad to hear that you are OK and that your RV is undamaged. Tornados and RVs don't get along very well and it doesn't take a strong one to do major damage.

We watched a weak EF1 destroy a motorhome and a 40 ft park model in an RV park in New Mexico. There was no shelter except a large, deep hole nearby to jump into to escape. The person living in the park model had been in a roll-over accident two weeks earlier while driving home from work. She was pretty badly injured and was resting in the trailer when pain from broken ribs woke her and she went over to the main office to talk with one of the owners. The tornado came through while she was in the office. The park model was picked up 3 feet in the air and dropped, which broke it in half. We know because the person living in it had a Black and Decker Workmate work bench outside using it as an end table. When we ran over to render aid it was gone. I found it under the park model as flat as a pancake; the park model had been lifted up in the air and the Workmate slid under before the park model dropped on top of it. The motorhome (Class A) was also picked and dropped on its side. It was barely a month old. Fortunately, the motorhome owners had left 30 minutes earlier to go see the progress of a new home they were having built. The bad news was that their motorhome didn't have tornado coverage. Fortunately, the Weather Service ruled it a micro-burst, which was covered.

So, if you hear of a severe thunderstorm coming find shelter or have a plan to take shelter already prepared. You may need to move very quickly because a tornado can spin up without any warning at all.

kittlecat · 08-31-2018, 10:16 PM

I live in MI and heard nothing about a tornado in Sterling. I'm very glad you and many others are ok. Wow!

zippersbs · 09-01-2018, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kittlecat

I live in MI and heard nothing about a tornado in Sterling. I'm very glad you and many others are ok. Wow!

There was 5 tornado's reported, from an E-0 to E-2, that went through the northern L.P. that night. Covered the area's from Claire to Saginaw, up to West Branch, Gaylord & over towards Alpena. They caught hell up that way, I have many relatives up that way & lots of them without power still & lots of trees are down everywhere.

Wolverine 1945 · 09-01-2018, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeyJude

What an interesting few days. We are at Outdoor Adventures Campground in Sterling, Mi. We are right on Rifle River. Tuesday night we had a tornado rip through here. Only one injury, several campers damaged and one brand new truck smashed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life! Our camper lifted up with the wind, we didn’t have a chance to get to the shelter. I grabbed my dogs and went into our bathroom. It only lasted a few minutes, but that had to be the scariest few minutes of my life. Watch the weather folks, we knew a storm was coming but never suspected a tornado. I’m amazed at how fast the crew here cleaned this place up. Half the campground will be without power till Friday night, since the storm took out a mile or more of power poles. Luckily we have a generator.
The campground next to ours across the river is completely shut down now for the season. No kayaking or tubing,since the river is full of trees now...

Glad you & the Dogs are ok !!!

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