Monroe County mobile home park picking up pieces after EF1 tornado tears through neighborhood

CANTON, Mich. (FOX 2) - Uprooted trees, howling wind, homes rolling onto one another - the sights and sounds from a Monroe County subdivision where a tornado blasted 100 mph wind gusts into mobile homes was the stuff of horror for its residents.

Remarkably, there were no fatalities or injuries. Yet the trauma from the evening will likely remain for inhabitants of the Frenchtown Township neighborhood.

For 8-year-old Zair, he stayed closed to his dad during the apex of the storm.

"All I see is lightning lighting up the whole sky and thunder and wind," he said. His dad Devan Edwards said it sounded like the wind was tearing stuff off the house. 

Journey Guy, a mother who took shelter in the closet with her daughter, the few minutes of terror felt like a lifetime.

"Sirens off, running around the house, trying to figure where to hide, figure out what to do with her and she's trying to sleep," she said. "We're all crying in the closet, shaking, just praying everyone is okay."

Another resident of the Frenchtown Villas neighborhood had never seen damage on the level that hit his home.

"Big old tree come through the window and we stepped outside after everything was done and it was a mess," said Andrew Rastelli.

In total, five tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down across Michigan during severe weather Thursday. One person died while on I-96 where an EF1 tornado blew into Livingston County and tipped passenger cars and semi-trucks onto their sides.

The EF1 tornado that touched down in Monroe County hit south of Newport before hitting the mobile home park. 

It also sparked a gas leak in one home after it was hit by another, the area police chief said.

"One of the homes had rolled over onto another and smashed that house and the smell of gas was everywhere. It was a main that was disturbed," said township fire chief Wendy Stevens. "As far as what happened here, we were blessed, as a community we were blessed. This could have been a lot worst when you see the damage last night."

The physical scars will heal, but as Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist said during a visit to the destruction, there are other issues that will persist.

"I know the mental and emotional strain of this, not to mention the financial is going to be significant," he said.

Both Monroe and Wayne counties are now under a state of emergency declaration issued by the governor. The order opens up additional resources for homeowners.