GAYLORD, Mich. — Cleanup efforts in Gaylord continue after an EF-3 tornado ripped through the small city in northern Michigan Friday afternoon.
It killed two people and injured more than 40 others.
Even with a few days of community-wide cleanup efforts, parts of the city are still destroyed.
Over the weekend, emergency crews managed to restore power to the entire city, and major highways reopened.
State police also finished their search-and-rescue efforts.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado stayed on the ground for 20 minutes and tore through more than 16 miles.
It took out not only parts of the city’s main street but a mobile home community and other neighborhoods.
Michigan state police officials tell us the two deaths from the tornado happened at the mobile home community.
Residents returned there on Sunday, but estimates indicate the winds nearly flattened every home in it.
People we spoke to say while they want to rebuild, it may take longer for them to heal.
“To see what happened to our community, we were out today handing water and food out to the workers, and going out, there’s a lot of areas out here that were hit that were beyond where all the stores were damaged, a lot of residential. It looks like a bomb was dropped in there,” said John Sullivan, who survived the tornado.
We do continue to hear of efforts to help the families impacted by the tornado.
A local church has become a relief center of sorts, with people able to stop by and receive shelter, food, clothing and other necessities.
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