‘An experience that you don’t ever want to live’ Three Rivers devastated by weekend tornado

By Robert Tomlinson
News Director

THREE RIVERS — A severe storm that produced a strong tornado swept through Three Rivers Friday night, causing severe damage to multiple houses and businesses.
Three Rivers, Fabius Township, and areas east and northeast of Three Rivers were hit by the tornado, which was classified by the National Weather Service as an EF-2 tornado with wind speeds topping out at 130 miles per hour.
According to the NWS, the tornado was from the same supercell storm that produced an EF-1 tornado in Edwardsburg and would later produce an EF-3 tornado in Union City. There were 10 injuries reported and no fatalities with the Three Rivers tornado, however one person, a 12-year-old child, died in the Edwardsburg tornado, and three people were killed in the Union City tornado with 12 injuries reported.
The tornado touched down initially near Roberts Road and M-60 just southwest of Three Rivers at 3:49 p.m. Friday, and quickly intensified to EF-2 strength, according to the NWS. It traveled for nearly 11 miles, with a width of 450 yards.
In its path, the tornado hit the Menards store, removing its roof on the southwest and northwest portions of the building, as well as causing a collapse of an exterior wall of the building. A viral online video also showed a part of the Menards Self-Storage building having part of a building uprooted and pieces of roof flying off. One section of a U-Haul facility, the NWS added, was also completely destroyed.
As the tornado moved, the NWS stated, it produced EF-1 and isolated EF-2 damage to a number of residences and businesses in the southwest area of the city, including Three Rivers Health. The tornado then crossed the St. Joseph River, producing extensive damage to Huddlestun Lumber and other houses on South Main Street before uprooting a number of trees at Riverside Cemetery and causing more damage to houses along East Michigan Avenue. It then continued on, causing damage to Three Rivers Community Schools’ new transportation facility, which included completely tearing the roof off the building and damaging buses.
The tornado then moved eastward, producing more damage north of Centreville, including a large barn and additional trees being snapped. The tornado lifted at 4:07 p.m. north of Spring Creek Road and south of Butler Road.
St. Joseph County issued a local state of emergency Friday night, while Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a state of emergency at the state level Sunday morning.
In residential areas of the city, there was extensive damage reported to homes on multiple streets in the south, west and east parts of the city, with roofs torn off, windows taken out, and debris strewn about. Residents were out in the immediate aftermath helping to clean up before more severe thunderstorms hit in the nighttime hours.
Lacheryl Shelton lives at the apartment complex at the corner of Millard Street and South Constantine Street, which had its roof come off and siding ripped out from the storm. She said she was about to go for a walk just before the storm hit, and got back inside just before it hit the building.
“I look up, I heard the thundering, and then all of a sudden, I saw debris coming my way, so I went back in and took cover,” Shelton said. “It shook the building, you could feel it, and when I came out, everything was all over the place.”
Another resident, Del Cook, who lives on West Buck Street, had his house’s roof torn off and garage damaged by the storm. He described the noise like a “train,” and said that everybody in his house was safe, even though he “lost everything” in the tornado.
“There’s no more garages on either side of us,” Cook said. “It’s an experience that you don’t ever want to live.”
On South Main Street, Desiree Patton’s house along the St. Joseph River was one of the ones damaged by the storm, and she was helping alongside friends and family to clean up trees and debris that fell in her front yard and backyard Saturday afternoon. She said the inside of her house, windows, and roof are damaged, and that earlier in that day, she couldn’t get out of her back door.
“The back door was completely blocked with trees. We couldn’t even get out,” Patton said, adding that seeing the damage from Friday’s storms “broke my heart.”
In the midst of everything going on in the immediate aftermath of the storm, there were a number of residents helping clean up at a number of properties, cutting down trees that fell and clearing debris. A number of volunteers, both individual and organized, were out in force the entire weekend helping with the recovery process. A shelter was open for a few days following the storm at Riverside Church through the American Red Cross, which temporarily housed several people when it was in operation.
Three Rivers Mayor Angel Johnston said she felt a “mix of heartbreak and gratitude” when seeing the damage from the Three Rivers tornado.
“I’m looking at people’s homes absolutely destroyed, and then I’m thanking God because no one got killed,” Johnston said. “No people lost their lives, and that is a blessing from God above.”
Johnston said the message she wanted to send to the people of Three Rivers through everything that happened with the storm is to “keep taking care of each other.”
“I think once the dust settles, we’ll all realize even those folks whose homes were destroyed, they will be rebuilt. We got to see our community in action, coming together to take care of each other. And those feelings will last probably longer than the fear,” Johnston said. “As I always say, we’re writing the next chapter together. And this is a very difficult chapter, but a very difficult chapter can still have a beautiful ending.”
Shelton, the resident at the apartment complex near the heart of the residential damage, said she was glad everyone in the city ended up being safe.
“I just thank God everyone is safe. Material things are replaceable, but everyone is safe,” Shelton said.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.