Michigan Amish Repair Tornado Damage Impressively Fast, Even Before The National Weather Service Could Survey

Efficient Amish Storm Repairs Hamper NWS

Damage from a tornado that struck a Michigan Amish community last week was repaired so impressively fast the National Weather Service was unable to estimate the wind speed for damage at a few locations along the twister's path.

Tornado In Detail

• It Was One Of Two Simultaneous Tornadoes: The EF1-rated tornado tracked nearly 4 miles on the evening of April 2 through Branch County, Michigan, which is near the border with Indiana. Interestingly, a separate EF1 tornado caused damage just east of this one at the same time in Branch County.
• Survey Crew Found Damage Was Quickly Repaired: Despite the National Weather Service team arriving rather promptly, or within 48 hours of when the tornado struck, some of the damage was already at least partially repaired by the local Amish community, as noted in the red boxes of the survey details below. The survey team, therefore, could not give wind speed estimates at these points along the tornado's path, including for some damaged homes.

Photos Show The Rapidly-Repaired Damage

• In this first NWS survey photo taken on April 4, 2025, the left side of a mobile home was repaired, including the roof which shows new shingles.

• In this next photo, the NWS remarked "Amish home likely sustained significant damage but it has been repaired". This is particularly impressive that repairs were done so quickly given how large the home appears to be.

• This third photo shows the structure of a pole barn that was repaired before the NWS survey team arrived less than 48 hours later.

How Tornado Strength Is Estimated

• Tornadoes Are Rated On The Enhanced Fujita Scale: Survey crews assign a rating from EF0 (light damage) to the rare EF5 (incredible damage), based on the most severe damage observed along a tornado's path, not by any other real-time metric such as Doppler radar or their appearance on video. Those surveys can happen hours to days later, depending on a variety of factors.
• Factors Weighed: The wind speed estimate, and therefore EF rating, is based on various damage indicators from trees and small barns to homes and large shopping centers. The quality of building construction is another factor in determining a tornado's rating. Check out this article from senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman for deeper dive on how storm surveys are completed, and the challenges crews can face.

Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with weather.com for nearly 15 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.