St. Johns Hit Hard by Thunderstorm
In St. Johns, trees are snapped, power lines are down, and streets are closed after a massive storm hit Mid-Michigan Thursday morning.
"We're just waiting for the insurance adjuster to come here to get it buttoned up before the next round of storms come," said Todd Cory, a resident of St. Johns whose front porch got smashed by a fallen tree.
Cory and his family still have power, but many in Clinton county don't.
"All we can do is keep drinking water and plugging ahead. Looking around here, we are not the only ones [who have damage]."
Thousands of dollars worth of damage can be seen from almost any street in st. Johns. The intense heat is making things even worse as temperatures reach near triple digits, houses without power quickly turn into saunas.
"They are probably going to be in their pool if they have one, or going someplace else," said Bob Johns, also a resident of St. Johns. "We don't have air-conditioning so we are just used to it and we'll just cope."
To help those without power cope, the American Red Cross has established a cooling center at Gateway North Elementary school.
"The house just gets way to warm with the heat index, especially elderly and the children," said John Fouts, a Red Cross facilities manager.
While hundreds in St. John are without power, on many streets that have trees and power-lines in the roadway still have power. Their power will have to be turned off in order for the crews to fix the lines. That means the number of residents without power could increase.
"It's a bear," said Cory. "We've been out here since basically eight or eight thirty this morning clearing branches and trying to get it ready for the next step and the next phase of clean up."
And until more customers get their power back, that's all that can be done.











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