PORTAGE, Mich. — A Portage family is grateful one couple is alive after a tornado ripped their mobile home from the foundation, trapping a woman underneath.
For more than an hour Tuesday night, the woman's family said her hand was sticking out from the bottom of the rubble waiting for rescue.
First responders got the woman out and rushed her to the hospital alongside her husband who had been thrown into the yard.
This happened at Oak Brook Estates Mobile Home park along Lovers Lane in Portage, one of the areas hardest hit by dangerous severe weather that spun up tornadoes Tuesday night.
The couple, shaken up and injured, are going to be OK, the family said.
"My cousin was buried in the rubble with just her arm sticking out. Her husband was somewhere in the yard. He was pretty banged up. It took over an hour to get her out. Finally, got her out to go to the hospital. And she's doing good. She's doing good. They got released this morning. And she's gonna be fine," Kathy Irwin said.
The cousins said it was a miracle that the woman is alive despite her home being tossed on top of her.
"We think that it could have been a lot worse. We were prepared for the worst when I heard the house was gone. And they couldn't find her," Ann Tuin said.
The husband suffered a broken neck, but he's also expected to be OK, the family said.
"Everything can be replaced but those people can't so I woke up praising today. You look outside, there's not a cloud in the sky. It's sunny out. And you know, the Lord really came through for us," Lexi Tuin said.
Now this family alongside their neighbors are working to clean up and collect as much as they can.
In the nearby FedEx Center, about 50 employees were temporarily trapped inside when the roof and front of the building blew off.
The storms caused severe damage ranging from uprooted trees to roofs blown off buildings. Some homes and businesses were destroyed. While no serious injuries were reported, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff said there are an estimated 16 to 20 people who sustained injuries in the Oak Brook Estates mobile home park in Portage alone.
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