15 Year Anniversary of the Grand Rapids Mega Storm

     It was around 3am on a Sunday morning when our alarm went off signaling for my husband to get ready for work.  He was a company driver working for B&B Trucking based out of Kalamazoo.  The semi he was using was parked near the Grand Rapids Airport.  The company was contracted to haul the mail from one bulk mailing center to another one.  I had preplanned on visiting with my mother that day.  I told her I would be there very early and I would try to be quiet as I entered her home.  Slowly we drug ourselves out of bed.  I woke up our 3 week old daughter, Elizabeth, and sleepily I fed her before we left for the hour drive from Gobles to Grand Rapids.  Before we left Brian picked up our one year old son, Christian, and carried his sleeping body to his car seat in the Chevy Astro van.  Brian slipped behind the driver's seat and I slid into the passenger seat feeling like a walking zombie.  Early mornings were not my speciality. 

     On the way up Brian nudged me awake, "Look at that!"  he said pointing to the northwest.

     I strained to open my eyes.  They just didn't want to open.  Somehow my eyelids pryed itself open and before my eyes was a series of lightning strikes.  From the glow of the lightning you can see the massive cloud.  That caught my attention and woke me up.  I love thunderstorms and this one seemed like it was raining lightning. 

     "We better hurry so we can meet up with my truck and I can do my pretrip before that storm hits."  he drives a little faster going north on 131. 

     At that time in the morning on May 31, 1998 it seemed as if no one was around.  The streets were eerie silent.  We would get into a few batches of rain and then it would stop.  We could hear the rolling sounds of thunder angerily snapping at our heals.  We made it to the 44th street exit and it was a straight shot to the airport.  Most of the lights were still blinking yellow.  Some we did get stopped at by a red light only to see the storm heading for us in the rearview mirrors like it was angry at us for trying to outrun it. 

     At last we make it to the parking lot next to the airport terminal.  The cloud let out its rain like a bucket was dumping over the edge of it.  Instead of getting out of the car to run around to the driver's seat I just slid myself across looking at the heavy rainfall through the windshield.  Poor Brian was out in the rain looking over his truck to make sure everything was good to go for his daily trip.  Then I started to hear a thunk, thunk, thunking noise on the roof of the van.  I looked around to see what it was.  It was raining so hard I couldn't see out the windshield.  Brian quickly hops in the van dripping wet.  "It's hailing!  I am going to wait in here until it lets up a bit" 

     We sat in the van for a moment listening to the tinking sounds on our van.  I looked behind to check on our children.  They were both fast asleep unaware of what was going on in the world around them.  After a few moments the hail slowly started to let up.  Brian kissed me goodby and told me to be very careful as I drove to my mom's house.  I insured him I would.  He got out of the van and made a dash for his truck.  His headlights flashed on and off at me.  That was his way of saying he was good to go and I could leave.  I turned the van around and headed towards 28th street.

     I could feel the wind pushing against the van like it was trying to stop me.  I was determinded enough to continue.  I was amazed at all the lightning that lit up the pre-morning sky.  I was so engrossed with the lightning that I wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around me.  I suddenly realized that I haven't seen any street lights.  As I was crossing over Breton I looked up and in the flash of the lightning I seen the yellow light signal swinging madly over me.  I looked back in my side rearview mirrors.  No lights! I thought to myself.  Power must be out.  I need to slow down, pay attention and stop at the intersections.  Having worked as a waitress on 28th street on that side of town 4 years prior helped me navigate my way west on 28th street.  I remembered where the major interestions were and knew when to stop.  I was thankful that traffic was sparce that morning and no one came from the other side streets and ran through like I did and hit me.  I couldn't get over at how hard the wind was blowing.  The trees I could make out wanted to topple over in the wind.  Light poles in parking lots swayed violently.  To me, this was exciting. 

     I finally made it to my mom's driveway.  The rain had let up a bit but it was still raining.  I turned around in my seat to cover Elizabeth's car seat with a blanket to protect her from the weather.  I looked over at Christian.  He was still sleeping.  I got out of the car and popped Elizabeth's car seat out from its base just enough so I can grab it with one hand.  I lifted Christian out of his carseat and put him over my sholder.  The rain on his face woke him up a little bit.  I grabed Elizabeth's car seat with my other arm and dashed quickly to my mom's garage.  I set Elizabeth's car seat down so I can work the door to enter my mom's house.  As soon as I did that the door started to open.  My mom was on the other side relieved that I made it there okay.  We all enter and made our way to a screened in porch.  There, looking at me from the other side of the glass, was my older sister with her daughter. 

     "What are you doing here?"  I inquired with a smile.  She lived about a mile from our mom's house.

     "It felt like our apartment was about to fall over.  I wasn't sure if there was going to be a tornado"  she said.  She doesn't like storms a whole lot. 

     My mom's power was out also.  I told them that most of 28th street is without power.  We sat and rocked the children watching the storm work its way to the east.  The sun was trying to work its way through the clouds to bring on the day and to illuminate the destruction that was left behind.  In my mom's yard a few small trees fell over and Brian came a few days later and helped remove them. 

     Several hours later we were all starting to get hungry.  We couldn't cook anything because the power was still out in our location.  We decided to drive around and see what was opened.  Denny's over by 131 and 44th street was open.  The parking lot was packed.  Chris, my mom's husband, went in and set our reservation.  It was over an hour wait.  We sat in the car and waiting for a while before we made our move inside.  Elizabeth woke up and wanted to be nursed.  I looked around at the busy resturant.  Being a private person that I am I just couldn't nurse at that moment.  I did, however, carry around the premade 2 ounce bottles of formula that the hospitals give out after you have a baby.  I opened up the bottle and that was her first time taking a bottle.  She was done nursing after that day.

Area affected by the May 30-31, 1998 derecho event (outlined in blue). Curved purple lines represent the approximate locations of the "gust front" at three hourly intervals. "+" symbols indicate the locations of wind damage or wind gusts above severe limits (measured or estimated at 58 mph or greater). Red dots and paths indicate tornado events.  http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/may30-311998page.htm

     Looking back and gathering information about this storm Wikipedia says, "860,000 people lost power in Michigan. This derecho (wide spread windstorm associated with severe thunderstorms) would go on to break the record for biggest power outage ever in the state of Michigan (but later surpassed by the 2003 North America blackout)."   This storm spread from Montana to the Atlantic Ocean.  It went through Michigan in 2 hours.  Wiki also said that Grandville had extensive damage which led to the city being closed off and no one could leave.  I didn't find that to be entirely true since we were able to head out to Denny's and I was able to pick my husband up later on that evening with no problems.  But there was damage all over Michigan and smaller tornado's did pop up sporadically.  Trees did topple over and roofs were blown off of homes and buildings.  In fact, over 12,000 homes were damaged and 34 homes were completely destroyed.  Over 800 businesses were damaged and 34 businesses were destroyed.  This storm was so bad that 5 of Consumer's Energy 345 kilovolt transmission towers were blown down between Ludington and Grand Rapids.  They were designed to stand up to gusts of 110 miles per hour.  "Overall, the derecho traveled 975 miles from southern Minnesota to New York in 15 hours at an average speed of 65 mph. It became one of the most damaging derecho events in North America's history, causing $300 million in damage."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-May_1998_tornado_outbreak_and_derecho) 

Red numbers are maximum measured wind gusts in mph. Orange numbers are estimated maximum gusts in mph, based on a damage survey by Grand Rapids NWS Forecast Office meteorologists. Thirteen Michigan counties (noted in black lettering and within light blue border) together were declared a Federal Disaster Area by the Federal Emergency Managers Association. The purple "S" represents where a "seiche" took place on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/may30-311998page.htm



And there I was driving straight into the monstrous storm totally unaware of its magnitude. 

Storms: Fear to Fascination

                                               

     As a child I dreaded storms.  It terrified me.  Looking back now I think maybe it was when the lights would go out that would terrify me more.  It seemed with every strong storm our lights would go out leaving us in the dark.  I would cry and be in such a fright that I could barely move.  I would freeze up.  When WNEM TV 5 out of Saginaw would interrupt a show forcasting a storm I would start to get nervous.  I ran around the house gathering up all the candles, batteries and flashlights and placing them on our coffee table.  My sister would grab blankets and pillows and have them ready in case a tornado was spotted and we had to make a mad dash downstairs to our creepy basement.  As much as I feared tornado's I think I feared our basement more.  It would be a hard decision on what I would rather had to deal with. 

     I remember hearing a story of how a tornado came across Saginaw and damaged the huge concrete blue whale at the Saginaw Children's Zoo.  I loved that whale.  At our cabin at Houghton Lake we would see boats that broke loose from their anchors or docks float on by.  Trees would bend and break.  My grandpa would drive us around afterward to survey the damage and to see if anyone needed help.  I even recall a time when a tornado has been spotted in Houghton Lake and we had to run across to our neighbors to take shelter.  As a child that can be scary. 

     One day I was reading a Highlights magazine.  In it was a poem from a child about how he looks at lightning storms as God's fireworks for us to enjoy.  That really hit me.  I loved fireworks.  How could storms be much different.  I was looking forward to the next lightning storm.  I don't remember how long I had to wait but I knew I would look at it differently.  I still gathered up the candles, batteries and flashlights for same measure.  

     From that point on I fell in love with the storms.  Each lightning strike was unique in its own way.  Even the thunder was interesting to listen to.  Some would start out with a low crackling sound and roar its way to a loud boom.  Some would give no warning before its blast that would shake the whole house.  Before I would know it I could hear the faint sounds of thunder fading away in the distance and the rain would slowly come to an end.  Even the power of the wind was amazing.  Trees that have been planted in the Earth for years can bend over in the sharp wind and some can even snap.  There is an awe about it.  Hail was a special treat because we didn't see that too often.  The fun part was when the storm was done my sibilings and I would dash outside and collect all the hail.  My mom would stick it in the freezer to save it for us.  I am sure she took it out when we stopped thinking about it. 

     It was a real treat when I was dating Brian and we would drive off to Saugatuck, Mi. and head to Oval Beach and watch the storms come in from across Lake Michigan.  The lightning would stretch out its fingers across the dark cloudy sky and light it up.  Some streaks would dip down and touch the lake.  It was a beautiful sight.  I find the storms so inspiring and peaceful.  

Picture by Wunderground.com  Lightning over Lake Michigan.

Photo by JessicAllen in the News Sun Times looking over Lake Michigan.

     Once we had children I wanted to pass my love of storms down to them.  They get excited when they see storm clouds coming.  We can see the storms coming in from the west.   At times, in our location, it seems as if the storms split in two and avoids teasingly.  Some of the dark clouds will dip south and heads towards Mt. Pleasant and other clouds will head north around the Cadillac area and persue east from there.  We can stand outside and hear the thunder booming around us while looking up and seeing blue skies.  

     One particular storm I remember where an F1 torando came across Osceola County knocking down trees to Spring Hill Camp.  The kids and I were expecting my mom, my sister and her children to swing by on their way from Houghton Lake.  She said the wind was so fierce on the highway that they had to pull over and go into a ditch while it poured rain and and hailed.  She was probably 15 miles from our house.  She gets to our house and looks down at our gravel driveway and noticed that it was completely dry.  My children were outside looking at the dark swirling clouds to the north and not very far away.  The storm missed us by a few miles. 

     Another time we just got chickens and put up a metal shed to turn that into the chicken coop.  No more than a month later a severe wind storm came across.  No rain, just wind.  Brian and I were watching TV when we looked out the picture window and see our shed breaking apart and blowing across the yard.  It was like seeing something out of the Wizard of Oz.  We ran outside to catch it.  A few of our older children came out also to help.  It took four of us to grab a hold of the roof that detached itself from the walls to pull it back to where we had our chicken coop set up.  Amazingly there wasn't a single chicken that was injured or killed during that event.   

     There is something, now, that draws me in to watching a good storm.  The smell in the air before the storm and after is refreshing.  You can't explain it but you know when that storm smell is in the air.  Maybe it's seeing God's force in nature that is amazing.  I am not sure.  But I do know that storms are a beauty in itself.