ZCZC ARBPNSDTX
TTAA00 KDTX 090707
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
305 AM EDT WED JUL 9 1997


                .....OAKLAND COUNTY STORM SURVEY.....

                            JULY 2 1997

ON THE EVENING OF JULY 2 1997...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN 
WHITE LAKE MICHIGAN...DISPATCHED METEOROLOGIST JEFF BOYNE...TO SURVEY 
THE STORM DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED EARLIER THAT DAY. THIS DAMAGE OCCURRED 
AT THE CHATEAU OAK HILL TRAILER PARK NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF GRANGE
HALL ROAD AND DIXIE HIGHWAY.  HE ALSO INVESTIGATED THE OTHER DAMAGE SITE 
WHICH WAS ANOTHER MODULAR HOME COMMUNITY...SPRING GROVE... LOCATED NEAR 
THE INTERSECTION OF HOLLY ROAD AND DIXIE HIGHWAY.  ONCE INSIDE THE 
CHATEAU OAKHILL TRAILER PARK...HE WAS DIRECTED TO THE SPRINGFIELD 
TOWNSHIP FIRE HALL WHERE HE MET WITH GREG BRAMLITT (A FIREFIGHTER) AND 
JIMMY FARNER. BOTH OF THESE INDIVIDUALS WITNESSED THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN 
IN THE TRAILER PARK AT ABOUT 5:35 PM.  THE TORNADO MOVED FROM NORTHWEST 
TO SOUTHEAST IN FRONT OF GREG BRAMLITT.  AFTER MOVED BY THE TWO 
WITNESSES...THE TORNADO MOVED INTO THE SPRING GROVE TRAILER PARK WHICH 
IS ADJACENT TO THE CHATEAU OAK HILL TRAILER PARK.  BOTH WITNESSES 
ESTIMATED THAT THE TORNADO HAD A DIAMETER OF 75 FEET.  ONCE THE 
INTERVIEW WITH THE TWO EYEWITNESSES WAS COMPLETE...MR. BOYNE WAS 
ESCORTED TO THE CHATEAU OAK HILL TRAILER PARK WHERE HE BRIEFLY SURVEYED 
THE DAMAGE.  IT WAS NOTICED RIGHT AWAY THAT THE DAMAGE WAS THROWN IN A 
VARIETY OF DIRECTIONS...WHICH SUGGESTED THAT A TORNADO HAD TOUCHED DOWN 
IN THE AREA.  MORE WITNESSES WERE THEN INTERVIEWED AT THE ROAD 
COMMISSION BUILDING IN WHICH THE AMERICAN RED CROSS HAD SET UP THEIR 
COMMAND POST AND SHELTER. THERE AT THE COMMAND POST...SEVERAL PEOPLE 
WHO WERE AT BOTH TRAILER PARKS WHEN THE TORNADO HIT WERE INTERVIEWED. 
ONE PERSON INTERVIEWED SAID THAT THEIR ELECTRIC CLOCK WENT OUT AT 5:32 
PM...SO THAT IS THE MOST LIKELY TIME THAT THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED 
DOWN AND TOOK OUT POWER LINES. 

AT ABOUT 10:30 PM...MR. BOYNE RETURNED TO THE DAMAGE SCENES.  UPON 
FURTHER INVESTIGATION IT WAS NOTICED THAT MOST OF THE SEVERELY DAMAGED 
TRAILERS IN BOTH TRAILER PARKS WERE EITHER NOT TIED DOWN OR THEY WERE
NOT TIED DOWN WELL.  A WELL TIED TRAILER WOULD HAVE TWO TIES ON BOTH SIDES 
APPROXIMATELY 5 FEET APART IN CEMENT SLABS UNDER THE TRAILER.  DUE TO
THIS MOST DAMAGE OCCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE TORNADIC WINDS PICKING UP 
THESE TRAILERS AND ROLLING OR THROWING THEM AGAINST WELL TIED TRAILERS. 

IN TWO LOCATIONS, THERE WERE THREE TRAILERS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER. SOME
OF THE TRAILERS THAT WERE SECURELY FASTENED DID SHOW SOME STRESS ON 
THEIR TIES. THEY MOVED SOME...BUT THEY DID NOT FLIP LIKE THOSE WHICH 
WERE NOT SECURELY FASTENED OR NOT TIED DOWN AT ALL.  A 40 YEAR OLD 
WOMAN WAS KILLED IN ONE OF THE TRAILERS WHEN ANOTHER TRAILER LANDED ON 
THE TRAILER THAT SHE WAS OCCUPYING.  THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL LARGE 
TREES BLOWN DOWN IN AND NEAR THE TRAILER PARK. OVERALL...IT WAS 
DETERMINED THAT THE TORNADO THAT HIT THE TRAILER PARKS WAS AN F1 OF THE 
FUJITA SCALE AND HAD A PATH LENGTH OF ABOUT A 1/4 MILE.

IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE DAMAGE COULD HAVE BEEN MINIMIZED IF THOSE 
TRAILERS THAT WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED WOULD HAVE BEEN SECURELY FASTENED TO 
THEIR CEMENT SLABS.  HOWEVER, EVEN IT THEY HAD BEEN SECURELY 
FASTENED...THERE STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN SOME DAMAGE...BUT PROBABLY NOT 
AS MUCH AS WAS OBSERVED.  EVEN IF THEY WERE SECURED...THE WALLS PROBABLY 
WOULD HAVE BUCKLED AND BLOWN DOWN BY THE SURE FORCE OF THE TORNADIC 
WINDS.  AN EXAMPLE OF THIS WAS OBSERVED AT CHATEAU OAKHILL TRAILER PARK. 
HOWEVER, THE OVERALL DAMAGE WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH LESS.

ON THE EVENING OF JUNE 5TH...A FOLLOWUP TO THE PRELIMINARY 
INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED TO SURVEY THE DAMAGE IN THE DAYLIGHT AT BOTH
TRAILER PARKS. 

AT THE CHATEAU OAK HILL TRAILER PARK...14 MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED. 
THIS LEFT 32 PEOPLE DISPLACED FROM THEIR HOMES.  IN TH SPRING GROVE 
TRAILER PARK...11 MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED.  THIS LEFT 18 PEOPLE 
DISPLACED FROM THEIR HOMES. ADDED TO THE 25 MOBILE HOMES THAT WERE 
DESTROYED... THERE WERE 10 MAJOR TRAILERS WITH MAJOR DAMAGE AND 95 
MOBILE HOMES WITH MINOR DAMAGE.  DAMAGE ASSESSMENT WAS STILL TAKING 
PLACE SO THESE NUMBERS MAY CHANGE.

IN THE AREA SURROUNDING THE MOBILE HOME PARKS...A MOBILE GAS STATION
AND A CAR DEALERSHIP WAS SURVEYED FOR DAMAGE THAT WAS SUSTAINED DURING 
THE STORM.  THE MOBILE STATION WAS AT THE INTERSECTION OF HOLLY ROAD 
AND I-75. THE MOBILE GAS STATION SUFFERED DAMAGE TO ITS CANOPY AND SOME 
OF BULLET PROOF GLASS WINDOWS WERE BLOWN OUT.  THE CAR DEALERSHIP
SUFFERED DAMAGE TO ITS ROOF.  ITS ROOF WAS FLAT AND IT HAD SOME
OVERHANG.  PORTIONS OF ITS ROOF AND THE INSULATION IN IT WAS FOUND
NORTHEAST OF THE BUILDING.  THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL TREES BLOWN DOWN
WITH A 1/4 MILE OF THESE STRUCTURES.  THE DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS 
LOCATION WAS CLEARLY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS DUE TO THE FACT THAT ALL OF
THE DAMAGE FACED THE NORTHEAST.  THIS WIND DAMAGE MOST LIKELY WAS A
RESULT OF THE STRONG WINDS BLOWING INTO THE TORNADIC SUPERCELL.

ACCORDING TO THE OWNER, THIS DAMAGE OCCURRED AT ABOUT 5:30 PM.  THE
OWNER WAS FROM LEBANON AND THIS WAS HIS FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH TORNADIC
WINDS.  HE SAID THAT THE NEXT TIME HE HEARS A WARNING...HE WILL TAKE 
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY! 

IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT THE STRAIGHT LINE WINDS CAUSED BY THE 
THUNDERSTORM WERE IN THE RANGE OF 75 MILES AN HOUR.
  
IN SUMMARY:

AT 5:30 PM...THERE WAS ROOF DAMAGE TO A CAR DEALERSHIP, CANOPY AND WINDOW
DAMAGE TO THE MOBILE GAS STATION ALONG WITH SEVERAL TREES BLOWN DOWN AT
THE INTERSECTION OF HOLLY ROAD AND I-75.  THIS DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY
75 MPH STRAIGHT LINE WINDS BLOWING INTO THE TORNADIC SUPERCELL.
  
AT 5:32 PM...A TORNADO STRUCK TWO MOBILE HOME PARKS NEAR HOLLY BETWEEN
GRANGE HALL ROAD AND HOLLY ROADS ON DIXIE HIGHWAY.  THE CAUSE OF THIS 
DAMAGE WAS A F1 TORNADO THAT WAS ON THE GROUND FOR APPROXIMATELY A 1 /4
MILE.  14 MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED AT CHATEAU OAK HILL MOBILE HOME 
PARK AND 11 MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED AT SPRING GROVE MOBILE HOME 
PARK. OVERALL, BOTH MOBILE PARKS HAD 25 MOBILE HOMES DESTROYED, 10 
MOBILE HOMES SUFFERED MAJOR DAMAGE, AND 95 MOBILE HOMES SUFFERED MINOR 
DAMAGE.

MOST OF THE DAMAGE OCCURRED AS A RESULT OF TRAILERS EITHER BEING NOT 
TIED DOWN OR NOT BEING TIED DOWN PROPERLY.  THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL 
TREES BLOWN DOWN BY THE TORNADO.

SENT BY - 
MICHAEL NADOLSKI -
DATA ACQUISITION PROGRAM MANAGER
WSFO DETROIT/PONTIAC