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(FOX 2) - Families are salvaging what’s left after tornadoes ravaged their homes, leaving four people dead and a dozen more injured.
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According to federal weather officials, there was no tornado watch issued on Friday as the tornadoes touched down, and warning sirens were not available.
Eighteen-year-old Mackenzie Day has nothing to return home to in Union City. Three of her neighbors were killed by the EF-3 tornado that leveled their street on Friday.
"They were good people. They didn’t deserve that. Nobody on that road deserved that," said Day. "It just sounded like loud wind, thunder and just destruction. It was tearing everything apart," Day said.
The storm ripped through the state just as school was getting out Friday in Three Rivers.
"They in an instant had to get into a mode where they were getting all the kids to safety," said Three Rivers Community Schools Superintendent Nikki Nash. "I had a check sheet at the office, and within 10 minutes we had all our buses accounted for and at schools."
Busloads of children were shuttled to safety as their bus garage was ripped apart by an EF-2 tornado.
Back in Union City, aerial photos reveal the before and after of what was once a quiet street, now leveled.
"When I got here, man, I just didn’t know what to say. I was at a loss for words, just like, ‘okay, where do I begin?’" said Dan Taylor, whose home was damaged in the storm.
It is the deadliest tornado in Michigan since 1980, with four people dead and 12 injured, and winds topping 150 miles per hour.
"I’m just glad my brother’s okay, my dogs, it could have been a lot worse," Taylor said.
What's next:
Now the rebuilding begins, with neighbors helping neighbors. Sadly, for the four families, funerals are being planned.
One of the victims of the storm was identified as 12-year-old Silas Anderson. The other three victims ranged in age from 54 to 65 years old.