PORTAGE, Mich. — An employee at a barbershop in Portage is sharing her story of survival after a tornado ripped the roof off the building.
Severe storms hit portions of Southwest Michigan Tuesday evening, bringing four tornadoes and four-inch hail to the hardest-hit areas. Portage and Colon were among the areas with the most damage.
Jude's Barbershop on Centre Road had the roof torn off the building and debris scattered around the parking lot, sending employees and customers inside the barbershop to run for cover.
Amanda Miller, an employee who was working during the storm, said it happened quickly.
"We got a few, like, tornado warnings. But a client walked in about five minutes before the tornado hit, and so the other girl that I was working with was cutting his hair," Miller recalled. "And the door started to, like, slap in the wind a little bit. She went over to lock the door and then all of the front windows and front door kind of shattered. And like very quickly the roof was going missing, and walls are coming down."
Tornado damage at Jude's Barbershop in Portage
Multiple areas in Portage were seriously impacted. Mobile homes were uprooted from their foundations, a FedEx Center was partially collapsed and some homes were destroyed. Debris from buildings and toppled trees has been scattered around the region.
This has caused power outages impacting thousands in both Kalamazoo County and St. Joseph County. Consumers Energy is hoping to have the power restored by the end of Wednesday.
No serious injuries have been reported, but the Kalamazoo County sheriff said there are an estimated 16 to 20 people who sustained injuries in the storms.
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