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| Canton Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak, below at podium, declared a state of emergency last week in response to the severe weather damage following a confirmed tornado in the community. During a press conference the next day, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, at podium above, said he planned to declare all of Wayne County as a disaster area. |
The tornado was confirmed by the National Weather Service to have touched down at just after 10 p.m. last week northwest of Pheasant Run Golf course. The twister traveled across Summit Parkway and Canton Center Road, dropping a tree onto a house near Sheldon Road. The tornado winds in Canton were estimated at 80 mph. At 10:23, another tornado struck Belleville, uprooting trees and damaging Mobile Manor Trail Park. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued the emergency disaster declaration for both Wayne and Monroe counties on Saturday.
Canton Township Emergency Manager William Hayes was designated to coordinate with state and federal authorities for assistance related to the emergency.
Wayne County Executive Officer Warren C. Evans announced his plan to declare a state of emergency during a press conference Aug. 25 at the Canton administration building. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Graham-Hudak attended Evans' meeting and addressed the impact of the severe rain, flooding, and excessive wind damage reported. The City of Inkster and the Northville and Plymouth communities also reported damage from the storm and the storm conditions closed Metro Airport in Romulus where roads and interstates were under water.
Under the state of emergency, Wayne County hopes to expedite additional resources to provide aid for residents in the hardest-hit communities.
Members of the Canton Township Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and township staff members began a door-to-door damage assessment of residential structures in that community on Saturday. The information collected will be provided to the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division of the Michigan State Police, officials said.
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| Congresswoman Debbie Dingell attended the Aug. 25 press conference to address the state of emergency declaration for Wayne County and Canton Township. |
“The purpose of these visits is to solely conduct damage assessments on behalf of Canton Township to assist with providing the total damage assessment numbers to the State of Michigan,” Hayes said. “All of this information will help recovery efforts as we continue to concentrate on clean-up measures that resulted from a barrage of recent storm fronts that brought heavy rain and high winds through the Canton community.”
Members of the Canton CERT volunteer program and township staff will have proper identification, including badges and uniform vests. Credentials will be available upon request. officials said. Canton residents are being asked to answer the damage assessment questions as accurately as possible and to provide any necessary information to help evaluate the extent of the damage in neighborhoods.
Should questions arise during or after these visits, residents are asked to call the non-emergency dispatch at (734) 394-5400 for additional information.
“All gathered data will go a long way in helping to expedite the necessary aid we need in the Canton community to assist with our recovery process,” said Graham-Hudak.
“By working together we'll be able to obtain the necessary resources that are currently in high demand in our community.”
Canton residents affected by heavy rains are also encouraged to submit a self-reporting survey to help assess the damage throughout the township at: https://arcg.is/10ab1j
For additional information, visit www.canton-mi.org.
