Update: Powerful Storms Leave Severe Damage on South End of Clawson

The severe thunderstorm that barreled through Clawson on Saturday evening left the south side of the city with several fallen trees and branches, downed power lines, snapped electric poles and thousands of people without power.

Residents and officials say they've never seen damage this massive in Clawson.

Several streets were taped off in neighborhoods near as residents and officials worked to clean up the damages. Trees and branches were strewn across yards, some lying in the middle of the streets, blocking traffic.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, 1,479 were still without power in Clawson, according to DTE Energy.

No injuries have been reported from the storm, said Doug Ballard, assistant superintendent of the Department of Public Works.

"We've been hit pretty hard," Ballard said. "The southwest section has been hit the hardest."

Barb Perez said she and her husband were outside working in the yard and went inside the house right before the storm hit. When they came back outside, their backyard was a disaster. The couple lives on the 400 block of Gargantua.

"It was a matter of minutes," Perez said of the storm. "We saw a wall of rain. We just saw trees falling everywhere."

A tree in Perez's yard fell on her neighbor Jeri Toner's garage, crushing it.

"It's going to be totally replaced," Toner said. "I was sleeping on the couch and woke up to the storm. I just got away from the windows as soon as I saw how strong the winds were."

Perez and her neighbors said they have never experienced damage this severe while living in Clawson.

At the corner of Nakota and Manitou, an entire electric pole had snapped and was still leaning in the intersection around 8 p.m.

Cody Gorman lives in a house right behind the snapped pole. Gorman said he was looking out the kitchen window with his friend Christian Faloppa when the storm started up.

"Everything just started spinning," Gorman said.

"It was like a tornado," Faloppa said. "We booked it to the basement."

Ballard said the city would be working to clear all of the streets for traffic tonight.

Royal Oak was also hit hard by the storm. The storm forced officials to shut down the Dream Cruise over safety concerns.

About 6:30 p.m., police on motorcycles were driving up and down Woodward using megaphones to implore people to get to safety. "More storms are coming. It's going to get worse, so please go home," officers shouted to Dream Cruise stragglers walking and standing along Woodward.

If you have photos of storm damage, feel free to add them to the photo album or email nicquel.terry@patch.com.