Those who live in Michigan always have something to talk about. For one thing, the weather gives everyone a topic of conversation. On occasion, the weather is cause for more than a few passing remarks.

Take for example, the storm that swept through southeast Washtenaw County on Thursday, April 22, 1920. The dark threatening clouds came across the sky on the afternoon of Thursday, April 22, 1920, from the southwest, at about 4:30 p.m., giving warning of what was to come. The storm appears to have followed Ridge Road in York Township, between the county line and the village of Mooreville, where some of the worst damage was done.

“Those watching the approach of the tornado saw two funnel-shaped clouds which presently resolved itself into one huge funnel. At one point the fury of the cyclone was focused in a brook. The water was caught up with a mighty motion and dashed in the air as high as they could see,” reported The Daily Ypsilanti Press of Monday, April 26, 1920.

“The cyclone (tornado) seems to have struck the ground first in two miles north of Britton, in Macon Township, where the farm of Aubrey Rocklington suffered the loss of a few outbuildings,” reported The Ypsilanti Record of Thursday, April 29, 1920.

“Here it seemed to raise and struck the ground a half mile farther on at the Fred Mueller farm, where some damage was done to his buildings. A short distance beyond this farm the German Lutheran church was completely demolished, and also buildings damaged to some extent on the Len Mueller farm. At the Abe Harrington farm all the buildings were completely blown away and shade trees ruined,”

“At the Olie Frost farm,” continued The Ypsilanti Record, “every building was blown away, not a thing left, even clothing, household furniture were destroyed. The only thing left on this farm was the root cellar, and it was here the family took refuge during the storm. Mr. Frost had only been on the farm for a short time and made the remark to his family that the root cellar would be a good place to go in time of a wind storm. He was in the barn and heard the storm coming and ran toward the house to warn the family, but they met him half way, all headed in the same direction - for the root cellar.” This is perhaps the reason why the family survived the storm, as it seems to have been at its worst at this time. At the farm of Edgar Forsythe all the buildings were destroyed except the kitchen, which remand standing after the rest of the house had been blown over by the wind. Eight people had gathered in the kitchen, none of whom were injured.

“The new barn on the David Boyd farm was blown down,” noted The Ypsilanti Record. “Here the storm raised and left the Ridge road and the next damage was at the William Young farm, two miles away, where a barn was blown down.”

The house, barn and all the outbuildings at the farm of Mike Horigan were blown down and destroyed by fire. Horigan and his wife were trapped in the wreckage as the fire spread. Their dog ran to a neighboring farm and by its actions alerted the neighbor that something was wrong. The neighbor followed the dog back to the Horigan farm where he was successful in getting the couple out of the wreckage before the flames reached them. The couple suffered only burses.

Some farmers did not have time to reach the house where they could have taken refuge in the basement. They decided the end had come, and as a last resort, threw themselves flat on the ground as the storm passed over them. “One farm hand standing behind a big tree was thrown to the ground when the tree was uprooted, but the roots formed a sort of barricade and he was uninjured,” reported The Daily Ypsilanti Press of Friday, April 23, 1920.

“At Stony Creek,” noted The Daily Ypsilanti Press, “a cyclone which is said to have been a mile wide swept through the country about 4 p.m., unroofing barns and doing much damage.”

The city of Ypsilanti was treated to a hard downpour. At the south end of the city yards were covered with wisps of straw and particles of wood painted red, as though blown off wrecked barns. At the George Seaver farm, south of Ypsilanti on Whittaker Road, the yards were littered with debris as were other farms in the area.

The storm left an area of devastation where many families had lost everything. Some visitors to the area were moved to give victims of the storm the cloths off their back, as even the cloths in the closets had been shredded. Helped soon arrived, but the need was great.

“Saturday morning the neighboring farmers came with their teams and were organized so well that roads were quickly cleared and the debris gathered up. The boys of the party scattered themselves through the fields and picked up the fragments of glass, buildings and other wreckage that would impede the farmers later in their work,” reported The Daily Ypsilanti Press.

This was one of the worst storms to strike Washtenaw County, there would be more such storms, and there will be more.

James Mann writes monthly columns on Ypsilanti history for AnnArbor.com.