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Storage Facility Customers Seek Access and Answers Following Tornado

Posted at 7:12 PM, Jul 10, 2014
and last updated 2014-07-10 19:25:36-04

WYOMING, Mich. — As residents in Kentwood and Wyoming continue to clean up and their neighborhood’s bounce back, customers who pay to use Storage Pros facility in Wyoming are waiting for access to their belongings.

At the very least, they say that want some answers to key questions.

“Oh my God,” Julie Campbell said as she viewed the storage facility from a distance.

She can only imagine the damage to her personal stuff.

“As I pass by I’m looking and the whole back is blown out. That’s everything that I have. I just can’t believe this,” Campbell said.

After a series of hardships, including a foreclosure, Campbell said she is homeless and living in her daughter’s basement. She moved all of her stuff into this storage facility in wyoming which took a direct hit from Sunday night`s tornado.

“I turned the news, and I saw the devastation. But I still didn’t have a clue that my storage was involved. I just started praying for the people that this happen to, not knowing that I was victim also,” she said.

Wednesday, she got the bad news from Storage Pros.

“At first, I was told that they couldn’t give me any information. Then today, I kept bugging her until she was nice enough to send me the pictures.”

So far, only pictures show her mattresses exposed to the elements. She said the company isn’t letting anyone in while crews clean up the mess. But Campbell wants to assess the damage in person.

She’s concerned about security and what could be getting soaked in recent rains. She believes it’s all ruined.

Campbell described, “My pictures of my children and all that sutff in boxes, and I’m quite sure the rain has damaged my antiques that I have.”

“Cause this is everything. I mean, what I’ve already gone through and then you lose everything that you work for. So, I don’t know,” she said.

FOX 17 spoke with the vice president of operations, Peter Spickenagel, by phone. He said customers aren’t being let in because some of the buildings just aren’t safe.

General contractors are working to clean up debris and make sure everything is structurally sound. Here’s what customers have been waiting to hear. Spickenagel said Saturday is the goal for customers to gain access. 

Customers will be escorted back, and can begin to take some of their items.

If people want things thrown away, Spickenagel said the company will do that for them. If they have insurance, they can bring their insurance adjuster as well.

An employee also said there is 24 hour security of the property.