Harrison Township, other metro Detroit communities damaged by Tuesday's severe storms

Some metro Detroit communities woke up to property damage from Tuesday night's severe thunderstorms , the same storms that earlier spun up several tornadoes in West Michigan and prompted a state of emergency.

For the first time in state history, a tornado emergency was issued as at least two tornadoes, perhaps more, touched down in Michigan starting at about 6 p.m.: one — maybe two — in Portage; another in St. Joseph and Branch counties; and a third near Dowagiac in Cass County, National Weather Service officials in Grand Rapids said early Wednesday.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a state of emergency after at least 20 injuries were reported out of Kalamazoo County Tuesday night, including the destruction to 176 homes, a FedEx facility and damage to other buildings in Portage and in St. Joseph and Branch counties.

St. Clair County

Colony Marine, a boat dealer at 24530 Jefferson Avenue in St. Clair Shores, lost an exterior wall in the storm, exposing the boats stored inside.

Algonac resident Robin Stevens said in addition to Colony Marine's exterior wall, the neighbor's garage is also missing.

"It blew right through the front yard, took out a barn and a garage, yet did not knock the potted plants off the railing on the porch," Stevens said.

Macomb County

Harrison Township in Macomb County was one of the hardest hit metro Detroit communities on Tuesday.

Coincidentally, this week is the 60th anniversary of the only F4 tornado to touch down in Macomb County's Chesterfield Township, according to a post by Macomb County Emergency Management. The tornado on May 8, 1964, was responsible for 13 fatalities — the strongest in county record. "This tornado touched down north of Mt. Clemens and moved across Chesterfield Township near the Lake St. Clair shoreline before entering Lake St. Clair southwest of New Baltimore," according to the post.

Half of the Lambrecht Marina, at 31300 North River Road, was blown away by Tuesday's storms, according WXYZ-TV (Channel 7).

Photographs posted Wednesday morning from the Macomb County News Scanner on X say DTE is assessing damage and working to restore power. DTE's outage map reports more than 3,000 customers without power across Fraser, St. Clair Shores and Harrison Township.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Harrison Township, other metro Detroit communities damaged by Tuesday's severe storms