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Portage woman who lost mobile home in tornado hoping to find her cats alive

Gladys Barber just bought a new water furnace and fixed her roof. Now, her mobile home is destroyed, and she doesn't know where she'll go next.

PORTAGE, Mich. — Shortly after the storm hit on Tuesday, numerous agencies stepped in to help including the American Red Cross

The Red Cross set up a shelter for people who had nowhere else to go. 

One of the people using the shelter, Gladys Barber, told 13 ON YOUR SIDE she lost everything. She can no longer live in her mobile home at Pavilion Estates because she says the tornado tore her roof off into her neighbor's backyard. 

"My roof is gone, my security is gone, my roof is in partially my neighbor's yard. My stuff that was in the back is scattered all over. And it's not livable. I had just got a new furnace and just got stuff done to the roof, and this comes along. And now, I don't have a place to go. I don't know where I'm gonna go," Barber said. 

Barber said the only thing she hopes to have left is her six cats. They have been with her throughout it all, and now she wonders if she'll see them again. 

Her cats are like children to her. 

"I'm worried about my kids. I want my kids found and I want them back. They're my support animals. I rescued most of them and so now they're rescuing me if I could ever get back with them," Barber said.

While Barber said she lost just about everything, others said the damage to their home was minor. 

Shomari Brown was sleeping during the tornado. 

"I was asleep during it. And I hit my house. It hit my sister's window, and my mom came and woke me up telling me what happened. And I went outside to go see, and it was crazy," Brown said. 

The Red Cross told 13 ON YOUR SIDE about 20 people are using the shelter in Portage. 

The shelter at the First Assembly of God at 5550 Oakland Drive in Portage is open to anyone who needs it. 

You can call 1-800-RED CROSS to find help. 

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