NWS Confirms Tornado Blew Through Western Michigan
ALLEGAN COUNTY (WWJ) - Folks in Western Michigan's Allegan County are thankful that no one was killed following a vicious tornado that swept through their area on Tuesday night.
The National Weather Service confirmed the twister touched down, causing damage to the Deboer Turkey Farm and trailers in the area.
Kyle Windemuller, co-owner of Windscapes Landscaping in Allegan County, said although his business was also damaged in the twister, he's thankful no one was killed.
"The storm happened about 5:30, six o'clock, somewhere in between there, and that's typically when we are all getting back from the job site. Nobody was outside, so that is just a miracle. We just want to thank the Lord for that," Windemuller said.
Not too far from Windemuller's Landscaping business is DeBoer's Turkey Farm, where two barns were toppled by the storm and demolished -- sending 40,000 turkeys running amok throughout the night. Incredibly, most of the turkeys survived. Family, friends, and members of the community came to the farm on Wednesday to help in the tiresome efforts of herding the turkeys to safer structures.
According to CBS affiliate WWMT, debris from the farm blew nearly a half mile away. Damage is estimated to be as high as $1 million.
"We've got about a quarter of our roof gone but we noticed this morning that the rest of our roof is buckled like it almost all lifted up on one side. We got water coming into the shop and it went through insulated walls so all of that will have to be cleaned out," Windemuller said.
Evidence of the storm was very visible Wednesday morning, with things outside in a disarray. Windemuller described his family's fight for survival.
"My dad, who is the owner of the company, he grabbed his granddaughter, handed her to my sister, and then they jumped underneath the desk. Her husband jumped on top of them and then my dad took shelter underneath another desk," Windemuller said.
View the storm's aftermath in these photos provided by Kyle Windemuller.
