GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — "I've been here about 18 years and we've had storms up here but nothing like this," Belknap neighbor Angel Gonzalez said.
As the storms rolled in, Gonzalez was inside his three-story home. That was until he heard a child screaming.
"I heard a little girl screaming so I came outside and the fire department had got to her and she was screaming that her mother was trapped," Gonzalez said. "There was a downed tree and the kid came out and she was screaming that my mother is trapped and the fire department got to her first and they're fine, they're OK."
He used to own two of the damaged apartment buildings, several years ago.
"They were in pretty decent shape. They were old - they're almost 100 years old, maybe over 100," Gonzalez said.
The damage these strong winds left behind is something he never thought he'd see in Grand Rapids.
"I went down to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and obviously that was beyond this but that's the only thing I can compare it too. It's similar to that -the extent of the damage," Gonzalez said.
Jarrod Schaffer also lives in this neighborhood.
"We were like, 'oh yeah, it's just a thunderstorm,' and all of a sudden the lights went out and we heard a huge pop and then everything just started crunching and whaling," Schaffer said. "It just sounded like a weird awkward whistle like a train whistle."
The severe winds not only impacted his home, but it crushed his vehicle.
"I honestly don't know how to describe it. It's almost like seeing everything you built, normality just changing right before you and you're just told that this is your reality and you don't know what to do," Schaffer said.
Fortunately, 13 ON YOUR SIDE isn't aware of any injuries as a result of these storms. Now comes the very long and challenging process of cleaning up and rebuilding before residents can get back inside to their homes.
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