Dust devil hits Tallmadge Twp nursery

TALLMADGE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - One moment, Marge deWit was enjoying a quiet, spring Sunday at the family nursery on Lincoln, just over the Kent/Ottawa County line.

The next moment, she witnessed a frightening phenomenon.

"The sky was clear. It didn't come out of a cloud or anything," she told 24 Hour News 8. "I heard like this huge noise. And I looked up and I could see it. There was spinning and there was dirt and all of the sudden I saw these railroad ties flying through the air."

This was no gentle breeze, but a typically docile dust devil gone wild.

"All of the sudden I thought, if it could pick that up it could pick us up," she said. "The kids were right there, and I was right there. And it went right between us. I mean, we were lucky."

She headed for ditch. Then, just as quick as the wind descended on the nursery, it dissipated, leaving a real mess.

"It started in one of our poly houses behind us over here," said Lincoln Nursery owner Shirley Bruin as she stepped through the damage Monday afternoon. "Then it came across here and did some damage in four more houses, about 50 foot sections on each house.

"It took the railroad ties from the west side and threw them over to the east side. Mangled all of the conduit pipe that we have holding the plastic up."

Dust devils are common, but generally not as powerful as the one that hit Sunday.

They're created when the ground is heated much more than the air above it. A bubble of warm air rises skyward as more air rushes in to replace it, spinning as it rises.

Winds have been clocked anywhere from 10 to 70 miles per hour.

In Sunday's case, those winds were powerful enough to pick up debris from the greenhouses.

They are still adding up the damage, but Bruin says they were lucky. No one was hurt.

"I'm very thankful it's just the structure and some damage to the plants."