Monroe County hit hard by latest round of severe weather on Friday

MONROE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - The weather took aim again at Southeastern Michigan Friday, toppling trees and knocking out power.

In Monroe County John Jeffrey was under his SUV doing some work when the severe weather rolled in - leaving him no time to get inside.

"I heard the crunching and I was like, 'Oh well, it’s just a little hail and next thing I know it was like (boom) and I’m like what the heck?!" he said. "It didn’t do (any) damage to my car, thank God."

The house is a different story.  The storm uprooted a massive tree that came crashing down on his home.

"Our back bedroom has damage to the ceiling," Jeffrey said. "The ceiling is caving in a little bit and it took off mostly the overhang."

His house was one of several to be hit by what first responders suspect to be straight-line winds that toppled big trees, prompting firefighters who responded from home to assess a wide range of damage.

"As I came from my house there were trees all over, wires down," said Fire Lt. Larry Morabito. "And we’ve been on at least eight or 10 wires down or trees down (calls)  besides our normal calls. And you can see from the damage here, this area is probably the worst."

While crews begin their clean-up work, John is just thankful he avoided a catastrophe.

"I think the car saved me," he said. "Or God saved me, one or the other. I was like nine lives or something."

Monroe County first responders say that there were no reported injuries but cleanup may last a few days.