CALHOUN COUNTY, Mich. — On Wednesday in Calhoun County, people are picking up what they can and assessing the damage after last night’s major storm.
Residents like Curt Crow are reliving the moments a tornado tore through the county in the early hours of the day.
“All of our ears popped in. I was like, 'did you guys feel that?' And they're like, 'yeah,' and then suddenly, there's like a freight train coming through. It's loud. And then yeah, I don't know. I've never been through a tornado. And it was it was crazy. I don't want to do it again," said Crow.
His home, cars and other property were severely damaged from the tornado.
“Two two-by-sixes impaled the roof there. The house was leaking, so now all the drywall on the ceiling is destroyed. We're peeling shingles off the barn. A bunch of friends stop over, they got that all fixed up for me,” said Crow.
The barn where his family’s animals were kept was also destroyed, though the animals did survive the storm.
Looking at all the destruction all around his home, Crow says he can’t believe how much damage the storm caused.
“I hate it. I mean, that's my woods. You know, we hunt that and everything. And it's going to take years to clean all that up. That's my camper... that got flipped and rolled over to there. And now it's everywhere,” said Crow.
Calhoun County Sheriff Steven Hinkley says officials were on alert all day long before the storm, and reacted quickly to the storm, helping those whose homes were impacted.
“The county road commission arrived quickly with heavy machinery and was able to move some of those trees to really help our emergency personnel gain more access into that area. So that was significant. And it happened rather quickly. So that helped all the officers to be able to make contact the homes and residents and try to check on as many people as they possibly could,” Hinkley said.
So far, no injuries or deaths have been reported from the storm.
A fact people like Crow say is much more important than downed trees or damaged homes.
“Everybody's fine... No one got hurt. So, I was that's the biggest thing, you know, everything else can be fixed, bought, repaired, whatever,” said Crow.
The Sheriff’s Office says they are still assessing the damage to figure out more details about the storm.
Consumers Energy is working with those who lost power to restore it.
In the meantime, they ask that people try to avoid areas where there is still significant damage until it’s deemed safe.
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