Michigan homeowner shows aftermath of EF-0 tornado that damaged her property
An EF-0 tornado touched down in Milan, Michigan, Sunday night. One resident's home south of the city was battered with debris, forcing her family to find somewhere else to live for the time being.
The damage was intense at this property, with downed trees, some hundreds of years old. They were even in the process of taking down a barn, but the wind took care of that.
"Nobody got hurt here, thank God," said Melissa Siler, who was impacted by the tornado.
It's hard to envision the barn standing before the tornado ripped through Siler's property, carrying winds of at least 80 mph. What's left is scattered around Siler's backyard. Branches peppered her home, impaling walls and smashing windows. Her family discovered part of their roof in the yard across the street while they assessed the damage the following day.
Siler says they'll have to live somewhere else for the time being.
"It's looking like about six months, give or take a little bit, of work. We can't stay here because the exhaust pipe on our furnace got broke in the house," she said. "Just saw rain pouring in the house after that. I mean it seemed like forever, but it was maybe a minute, minute and a half."
While Siler endured the tornado at home, she also feared for her husband and daughter who were in town when it touched down.
"My husband being at a gas station, which is super dangerous to be at, my daughter being in her car, I told her just get low, as low as you can, on the floorboard of your car," she said.
She says she's thankful both retuned OK even though the same can't be said for her property.
"I'm so grateful that it was just us and nobody had any other major damage that I'm aware of and that nobody got hurt," she said.
Siler is working with insurance to help cover the damage to the home and the roof. She is now asking the community for help in cleaning up her property so they can start the process of rebuilding.
