Ann Arbor officials accessing storm damage door-to-door

FOX 2 - The last time a tornado tore through Ann Arbor was 1988, and back then it was an EFf-1, just like this most recent incident.

The backstory:

FOX 2 toured the path of damage on Friday – and got to see what the cleanup looks like.

Massive trees have been uprooted, some falling on houses and cars. City crews have been working today to clean up.

Some people have been trapped in their homes with trees blocking their cars, even front doors. The tornado even badly damaged two sports arenas in its path.

FOX 2 tagged along with city officials who went out on damage assessments door to door today.

The last time they had to do this was in 2021 after an ice storm. The point is to chronicle the damage – then submit to the state and feds to see if any additional funding is available for repairs.

The west side of Ann Arbor near Veterans Park really took the brunt of the tornado and storms that moved through.

A wall collapsed at the Veterans Memorial Park Ice Arena. There was also damage at the Yost Ice Arena at the University of Michigan.  

Many homes on the city’s west side also saw some big pine trees go down or get ripped from their foundation. 

Missy Stults, a worker for the city, was one of the many assessing the damage. She explained how the interaction with home owners plays out.

"The knock on the door starts in a human way, 'Hi my name is Missy Stults, I’m from the City of Ann Arbor,'" she said. "'I’m here to do an initial damage assessment from the storm that came through. Would you be willing to talk to us, my teammate wants to come through and take pictures of the damage so we can make sure to get it chronicled should there be additional assistance should be qualified for it.'"

Resident Tres Mucklery lives near the path of the tornado.

"(No damage) specifically to us, but I was driving around the other day and I had seen a tree that had fallen on a car leaving it totaled, and I was like thank God nothing happened."

These door knocks by city officials will be happening today and tomorrow in Ann Arbor. One of the worst situations we saw was a massive tree, uprooted that just missed two houses.