PORTAGE, Mich. — The lights are out, buildings are reduced to their foundations and massive trees are torn from the ground they've called home.
After devastation sliced through their city in the form of two violent tornadoes Tuesday night, Portage neighbors are still looking after neighbors—even if that neighborhood doesn't exist anymore.
Some residents on Gertrude Street, who were still searching for a safe place to sleep late into the night, say it's the first tornado they've experienced.
"I heard it coming, the sirens went off and then I left probably about ten minutes before it hit," said Nicole Johnson.
It was lucky she did. The neighborhood is now coated with toppled trees, tilted cars and debris instead of grass.
"I came back to see pretty much everything destroyed. Everything you worked for was gone," Johnson said through tears. "Just a lot of sadness. Never even ever could've imagined or thought that anything like this could happen."
She says one thing that's lifted her spirits is knowing she's not alone.
"Very family oriented neighborhood," said Johnson. "We all love each other. We all care about each other. I grew up in this house. I grew up around a lot of the neighbors. Everybody looks out for everybody."
As soon as the storm was finished battering Portage, neighbors reappeared outside, checking in on each other and cutting up fallen trees in case anyone needed to get to the hospital.
The feeling of community is not exclusive to Portage. One man in Colon, a small town in St. Joseph County, watched as the tornado formed in a field just a quarter mile from his home. But he says what came next was more impressive.
"The funnel cloud popped over the treeline and actually touched ground," described Chase Royer.
"People are out there trying to do the best they can to clean it up. Neighbors are coming together. It's kind of cool. It's a catastrophe. But it's cool to see the communities come together," he said.
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