ARMADA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — This Sunday marks one year since an EF-1 tornado rocked the community of Armada destroying homes and ripping roofs off downtown businesses.
Wind speeds of 105 mph destroyed parts of the town that new construction can never replace.
At We the People, a restaurant in downtown Armada where a video went viral of the 1884 roof being torn off the building by a tornado. Today, that roof is on its way to being restored.
Its destruction is part of the physical remnants left behind by the 2021 storm, but residents say the biggest impact in Armada came in the hours after the wreckage.
“Like people say, it almost sounds like a freight train,” Armada Township Supervisor John Paterek said.
“You could literally hear the house breathe and then all the windows shattered,” Armada native Michelle Poulos said.
July 24, 2021 is a day the village of Armada will never forget.
“I get a phone call. The tornado is over us, we can see it, the roof is about to come off the station,” Armada Township Fire Department Chief Chris Krotche said. “The calls started coming in — roof on a house, roof on a house someone trapped, roof on a house, someone down, and they gradually grew and grew and grew.”
The tornado tore through the village, destroying homes. “The upstairs was just taken right out,” Poulos said.
It also twisted up trees.
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“We opened the front door, 17 inches from the door were all these trees — boom,” Armada resident Cheryl Rese said.
And historic buildings were dismantled. “A lot of it still retains the old look of the village, but some of it will never come back,” We the People owner Ross Boelke said.
Residents say it’s a miracle nobody was injured or killed in the storm, but one year later, the village is still recovering.
Poulos says her neighbors are still living in a camper waiting for their home to be rebuilt.
“I know there’s people in town still fighting with insurance companies, still not getting their stuff done. It’s sad,” Poulos said.
Even though property is still being rebuilt, residents told 7 Action News that the storm in a way gave them hope.
“I would see people that wouldn’t talk to each other when they passed each other on the street who were helping each other,” Boelke said.
“I have never been with people that came together like I saw these people come together,” Rese said. “They all came (saying), 'What can we do?' How can we help?'”
Locals say people from all over Southeast Michigan have flooded their town. DTE and other response companies told Armada officials they’ve never seen anything like it.
“They couldn’t work for five minutes without somebody putting a water in their face or sandwich or cookie, and they’ve never been treated like that by any community,” Krotche said.
Twelve tornado sirens are being added to Armada in preparation for another possible tornado. The fire chief told us they’ve also upgraded their community plan. “We’ll have 100% coverage,” Krotche said.
Twelve months after the 105 mph winds turned Armada upside down, their emergency response and sense of community has never been stronger.
“The beauty of what people will do in a tragedy like that makes you really think, wow, when something happens you really need to step up. Because people really stepped up,” Poulos said.
“It was amazing to see the community be the community. I swear Armada is the pearl of northern Macomb County, best place in the world,” Paterek said.
