Spring Valley Trout Farm owner: 'Amazing' storm near Dexter chops off tops of 100-foot pine trees
Jean Kaercher, owner of Spring Valley Trout Farm near Dexter, said the wind and rain were powerful and quick-moving this evening, causing significant damage to the foliage at her family's farm.
Kaercher said her 10-year-old son thought he saw a funnel cloud swirling, but she isn’t sure. She couldn't see much of anything through the rain, she said.
An aerial view of the Spring Valley Trout Farm. The farm suffered significant tree damage in tonight's Dexter Township storm.
From springvalleytroutfarm.com
Kaercher said she and her husband, Jim, rushed them inside when the thunder and lightning began.
“By the time we reached the porch, the sprinkling turned into pouring down rain and then the wind came and you couldn’t see anything. It was just a solid sheet,” she said.
The wind flipped the Kaerchers' grill and uprooted or chopped in half about 20 trees. She said one of the trees brought down a wire and started smoking.
“A light pole in the (trout) pond was damaged and trees landed next to the cars … the wind just took off the entire tops of these 100-foot pine trees, probably five or six of them. The bottoms of them are just still standing there,” Kaercher said. “It was just amazing.”
She said thankfully the farm had just bid farewell to a bus full of children with disabilities from Canton who had been there fishing during a field trip.
In addition to a dozen or so pine trees, the Kaerchers also lost a couple of maple trees and a large poplar, mainly on the east side of their 20 acres.
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Staff reporter Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
81wolverine
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:36 p.m.
That was a strange storm yesterday. What happened to it after leaving Dexter? Did it weaken? In Scio Township, which you'd have thought would have been its next stop, we didn't see that much rain.
Ann English
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 11:19 p.m.
The storm did come to Scio Township's northern part, blowing downpouring rain eastward within two minutes of my arrival home, but yes, it DID weaken. A very brief downpour followed a little lightning and thunder. It weakened so much that Ypsilanti comment posters missed much of it. WJR radio (AM 760) often reports such summer storms in the area, telling listeners where the storms will be within minutes (Dexter at 4:22, Barton Hills at 4:30, e.g.). It does cover Saline and Wayne County cities when storms are headed toward them.
J-smith
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : noon
The Lessors and Kaerchers are great folks, sorry to see they took hits from Mother Nature. Thank you for the coverage.
Dexter Bear
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 11:34 p.m.
Yikes! I hang out near there. Hope everyone is okay!!!!
Kara Marie
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 11:17 p.m.
My mom saw the funnel cloud on Dexter Townhall, but she did not think that the funnel was tight enough for it to touch down or even do any damage. Scary!