BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Marci Tuzinsky, Dean of Community High School, awoke to a loud sound coming from her phone. At first, she thought it was an AMBER Alert and was ready to go back to sleep. But when she read the words “Emergency Alert National Weather Service: TORNADO” across her screen, she urgently woke her family and headed down the stairs into their basement.
Tuzinsky was surprised to get the tornado alert in Ann Arbor; the last one happened in 1988, and in the last decade, one occurred in Dexter, about 10 miles away. With the lights around her house flickering on and off, she could hear the tornado siren sound in the background. Huddled together, Tuzinsky and her family sat waiting. She couldn’t stop thinking about the students who had been woken up and were about to take one of the most important tests of their lives: the SAT. She continued to hear the wind whipping against her house’s windows, but with the tornado warning out of the way, she and her family went back to bed.
Her second wake-up call happened a few hours later, around five in the morning. This time, it was from the school district. All AAPS schools had been closed due to the storm’s damage.
While many might have been pleased to have the day off, Tuzinsky knew that it would be stressful for her and the rest of the CHS team.
“We were like, ‘Oh my god, we have to reschedule these test dates,’” Tuzinsky said. “Every time there’s a no-school day, it is the busiest day. It’s all these little things. We all have to get on a phone call to figure out transportation and lunch services, and there’s always the question of whether or not we can do after-school activities for teams, too.”
When Tuzinski saw the damage, she was shocked. The community was ill-prepared for the surprise tornado. The storm started near Jackson Road and traveled through Vets Park—a popular city park and ice arena—before passing through Slauson Middle School.
One of the most notable places of damage was Yost Ice Arena, where the University of Michigan ice hockey team plays. Located on South State Street in downtown Ann Arbor, part of the arena’s roof was torn off and landed on the ground next to the building on the sidewalk.
It eventually settled down near Bach Elementary School, but not before causing damage to the surrounding area, including loss of roof tiles, uprooted trees and playground equipment.
Not only did the tornado cause damage to local buildings and areas, but many neighborhoods.
In addition to Tuzinsky, numerous AAPS students suffered damage to their houses and property. One student in particular, Lilah Woolard, was hit hard by the tornado. When originally woken up, Woolard and their family didn’t know what was going on. On the way to the basement with her family, worry began to rise. What was going on outside?
When the storm was over, they were taken aback by the damage done to their neighborhood.
“I know how bad tornadoes can be, but I didn’t know it was going to touch down on my house directly,” Woolard said. “We had a pretty tall spruce tree in our backyard, and that fell right on my house.”
In addition to this, many of their neighbors have power lines running through their backyards. As a result, the community saw an abundance of electrical fires around their neighborhood. The impact of the tornado, including downed powerlines and trees, prevented Woolard and their family from leaving their street.
“Before our street got cleared, we had a big wreck where the tornado went through, so there were a lot of trees down on the road, and around the area,” Woolard said. “There was a power line, so we had to be super careful.”
Although tornadoes may be seen as rare in the Ann Arbor area, that doesn’t mean they won’t happen, and the recent storm was evidence of that.
When Tuzinsky sent out an email to parents and students of CHS, she was met with families willing to help and support. They offered supplies such as coolers of ice and rides for students left with damage. Tuzinsky saw this as a reminder of how powerful the CHS community is.
“I had parents email me back and just say, ‘Thank you for this. Let us know if any families don’t have what they need,’” Tuzinsky said. “We’ve got families willing to help out. This is what Community High School is so amazing for.”
