Residents in Howell and nearby areas are cleaning up after a strong storm on Saturday. The storm damaged the historic Howell Opera House, blowing out a window that was about 100 years old, according to ClickOnDetroit. The storm also disrupted the Howell Melon Festival.
The Livingston Arts Council, which owns the opera house, is asking the community for help to repair a damaged window. Board member Gayle Down told ClickOnDetroit, "We’ve got the whole upstairs that we’re trying to restore," noting that the storm added new challenges while a fundraising campaign for restoration was already underway. Down told WXYZ, "I was really shocked because that window has been here for 100 years and it was shocking."
The Howell Melon Festival was canceled on Saturday night due to severe storms, with one attendee saying, "I feel kind of bad because all of these businesses prepared to have a huge turnout and now it's canceled so that's upsetting a little bit." Organizers announced that activities would continue on Sunday with some location changes. Residents also reported storm damage, including Mark Smet who said, "The storm came through and I heard this big, cracking sound and it sound like the tree hit the house," as stated by WXYZ. More than 1,000 DTE customers in Howell and Brighton lost power, and the Livingston Arts Council opened donations to help the historic opera house following the storm, as per WHMI.
