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Heavy Rains Bring New Damage, Outages To Metro Detroit

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Powerful thunderstorms hit the Detroit area Tuesday afternoon, and while it was nothing like last week's historic downpour, it was enough to cause damage in several areas.

weather rain damage downed tree Gary Krupczak
(Gary Krupczak)

In Allen Park, tipster, Gary Krupczak said firefighters put out a fires at three homes on Goddard near Old Goddard.

No injuries were reported. Lighting is believed to be the cause.

Meanwhile, John Gardner was driving along I-75 in Detroit when he says he ran into a wall of rain.

"Right as I was going over the bridge, to southwest Detroit, there were down tree limbs and the wind was blowing pretty hard, and I drive a van, and my van was moving - the wind was blowing pretty hard," said Gardner.

No official word on the cause and no injuries reported.

Severe thunderstorms pushed across Michigan's Lower Peninsula, creating wind gusts nearing 60 miles per hour in places like Irving Township, knocking down trees and dumping as much as 3.6 inches of rain.

The National Weather Service issued a series of severe thunderstorm warnings for several hours Tuesday for parts of southern lower Michigan, where residents are recovering from last week's severe flooding.

The storms passed east out of Michigan on Tuesday evening.

The weather service says 3.6 inches of rain fell Tuesday in Barry County's Irving Township, 50 miles west of Lansing. It says 2.6 inches fell in Kent County and 2.5 inches in Howard City in Montcalm County.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot says Jackson had a 60 mph wind gust, and the weather service reports a 44 mph gust in

Weather after rain(GaryKrupczak)
Rainbow in the sky as first responders work on fire damaged houses. (Credit/Gary Krupczak)

Kalamazoo.

Locally, Clawson and Troy were among the city's reporting downed power lines and tree limbs.

DTE Energy is reporting 13,000 outages early Wednesday morning. The biggest outage is southwest of Metro Airport where about 1,500 people are without power near Sumpter and Willow Roads.

[OUTAGE MAP]

If you must drive in heavy rain or flood conditions, police offered the following tips:

 ·         Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars causing loss of control and possible stalling. A foot of water will float many vehicles.
·         Do not attempt to drive through a flooded road. The depth of water is not always obvious. The road bed may be washed out under the water, and you could be stranded or trapped.
·         Do not drive around a barricade. Barricades are there for your protection. Turn around and go the other way.
·         Do not try to take short cuts—they may be blocked. Stick to designated routes.

[For the weekend forecast and more, CLICK HERE].

For the latest, keep it tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 during traffic and weather on the 8s, 24 hours-a-day. See live radar and the extended forecast anytime on the CBS Detroit weather page.
TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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