Community rallies in Armada cleanup effort after devastating tornado damage

Just days after a devastating tornado in Armada, progress is being made - roads are back open; power is back on, and tree trimmers are working overtime. 

"A sense of community a sense of pride, you're gonna make me cry," said Michael Henson.

On Saturday night the tornado lasted 14 minutes on the ground and covered seven football fields in the village of Armada.

"The roof ripped off didn't it two sections of this room just completely ripped off and went through the neighborhood made additional destruction and damage to other homes," said Brian Quigley, Broadco Property Restoration.

"We are just cleaning this nice lady's yard because we felt like helping," said McKenzie Maniscalco, a 10-year-old volunteer.

Doesn't matter, this is Armada.

Volunteers are cooking meat, eggs, hotdogs, mostly for the DTE workers who are here in Armada, working overtime to get the power back on, as well as the tree trimmers from other cities.

"We all help each other out the small towns when something big happens, we're gonna be here for each other," said Steve Gray, city of Richmond, DPW.

"This is our home these are our customers they supported us during the pandemic so now it's our turn to support them," said Marta Nikolla, owner, Papa's Restaurant.

"Maybe this is the thing that gets us out of our coronavirus funk," said Pastor Chris Titus, Armada United Methodist Church. "My family, my wife and I were thinking about moving and, will never leave Armada, never, how can you leave this?"