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Locating: Otsego Ski Club was just east of town. West ten miles was the cabin on a little lake in the woods near tiny Elmira. Two miles to M-131 and north past Boyne Mountain, big-time Michigan skiing, and eventual to Petoskey, where Dad was Mayor pro tem and I thought I was going to retire. “Two killed, 44 Injured in Rare Storm,” says the Detroit Free Press.
We don’t hear much from the little town Up North, gateway from Interstate 75 to Michigan Route 32 and the ten miles to Martin Lake where the family cottage served us for some forty years of rustic joy. Gaylord (pop 3,600) was home to our Ski Patrol Duties at the Otsego Ski Club most winter weekends and provided the Bright Lights at night in the Northland.
We heard down at The Farm in the early morning, a national blip of news, reported only because it was a burst of weather unusual in the area. It meant a lot. The little town had started as a lumber community in another century, and the gang at Martin Lake was partly responsible for the rebranding as the Alpine Village.
Gaylord meant a lot to us for a long time, and it still does. The information and pictures are used from the Detroit Free Press and their rights are reserved.
The tornado touched down in Gaylord and tore through it in a fierce whirlwind, killing two people and injuring 44 in initial reporting. It left considerable wreckage in its wake, including collapsed commercial and residential buildings, downed power lines and crushed vehicles. Saturday morning, residents surveyed the wreckage and began the grueling process of cleaning up the damage. It happened quickly. Townie Laura Noah reported: “It was loud, like a train roaring,” she said. “It was very stressful … I’ve never been through one.”
The injured were treated at nearby hospitals for their injuries from the tornado across what we used to consider our part of Michigan: 23 at Otsego Memorial Hospital in Gaylord, 12 at Grayling Hospital, eight at McLaren Northern Michigan Petoskey and one at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.
Initial reports indicated only a single death, but that rose to two this morning with additional people missing.
It was a strange event unknown in the nearly 70 years we have been passing through Gaylord. Several weather variables came together all at once to make it happen: A low pressure system west of Lake Michigan helped create conditions ripe for severe weather Friday afternoon and evening.
As the weather system moved east across the Lake, it turned into a supercell thunderstorm that can produce conditions for damage, including high winds and tornedos. Little Posen, a small village in the path, reported baseball-sized hail during the storm with wind gusts as high as 76 mph.
In town, the roof of the Hobby Lobby was ripped off. Traffic lights stopped working. The new Aldi Grocery Store had debris crowding the crushed entrance way.
Also damaged was The Goodwill Store. The town is also inundated with downed power lines and trees.
If you are still in Michigan, be alert for ways to help. For those lost, our deepest sympathy. It is a special place for all of us who know it.
From Socotra House: Vic Socotra
From the Freep: Christine MacDonald contributed to this report. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.