KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — At least one tornado touched down in Southwest Michigan on Tuesday night which displaced dozens of people and their pets.
Nonprofit American Red Cross quickly stepping up setting up a shelter for those who were suddenly left without a place to stay.
"I’ve got a Red Cross t-shirt and it says ‘Hope starts with us’," said American Red Cross Mass Care Lead and Shelter Manager Kathy Fratz.
At least two dozen people are left without basic necessities after a tornado ripped through Kalamazoo County.
"What our goal is — is to give them hope after a disaster. We provide them shelter, we provide them food," said Fratz.
The American Red Cross opening a shelter at Kalamazoo First Assembly of God at the request of the Kalamazoo Emergency Manager.
"We got called fairly soon after it had said a tornado had hit Portage," said Fratz.
The nonprofit is helping people impacted.
"The phone started going off, and then it was a matter of seconds. It started getting really bad," said Larry Duncan, a Pavilion Township resident.
Duncan lives in Pavilion Estates, one of the hardest hit areas in West Michigan. He was home when the tornado touched down and says he heard the storm come through.
"Rain, and then a bunch of hail, and then it went quiet for a second and sounded like a freight train going through," said Duncan.
He says his home was not severely damaged like some of his neighbors.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office said 15 to 17 homes were destroyed. 176 of them had some type of damage.
As of Wednesday, the sheriff's office said no fatalities had been reported. There were about 15 to 20 people with injuries, and while some were significant, none of them were life-threatening.
The American Red Cross says they are currently helping around two dozen people impacted and are expecting more.
"We had 16 people that stayed here last night. Right now, we have 22 people that are registered. I got a couple of calls from other people who are coming here. I think a lot of people slept in their cars last night or wanted to stay close to their properties and now they’re realizing they’re not going to be able to go back in," said Fratz.
Fratz said it will take at least a couple of days to assess the damage to determine the next steps.
"As far as how long this will go on for that is really undetermined at this point," said Fratz.
She says they'll continue helping until they're no longer needed.
As for Larry, he says he's just happy to be alive.
"I’m just blessed my girfriend is good, I’m good, dogs are good. I’m just praying for everybody else," said Duncan.
If you want to help those impacted, the American Red Cross is always accepting non-perishable goods like water and food as well as monetary donations. Click here for more information.
