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Riga Township residents picking up the pieces left behind in wake of powerful tornado

Multiple people are still without power 24 hours after storms rolled through Sunday night, including an EF-1 tornado that destroyed buildings and damaged homes.

RIGA, Mich. — Monday night, several people in Lenawee County are still cleaning up the damage and waiting for their power to come back on.

"We had tornado activity, I mean there's no doubt about it," Brian Bowman said.

The last 24 hours have been overwhelming for Brian and Kaye Bowman; from surviving a storm that burst through their house, to surveying all the work that now needs to be done to get their farm back the way they remember.

They won't forget what they experienced Sunday night.

"It's ungodly loud. And you just wonder how long this is going to stand before the house comes down, and all of a sudden there's this huge explosion and the glass is all blown to the inside of the room," Bowman said.

The National Weather Service confirmed the touchdown of an EF-1 tornado in Riga with estimated wind speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.

The tornado crossed 2.7 miles, leaving behind a path of destruction during the four minutes it spent on the ground.

Bowman said so many friends and neighbors have reached out and offered to help.

The Andrix family was winding down from a Father's Day celebration about 15  minutes north in Deerfield when the storm hit.

"'What the heck is that?' and then I realized probably thunder or lightning and I realized it's our barn and I started screaming, 'our barn blew over!'" Shannon Andrix said.

The barn and the family's camper blew on their sides; the same barn that had been used to raise 4H animals in the past. 

But only equipment and storage for farming were inside Sunday night.

"I was sad because this is an old, probably hundred-year-old barn. They don't make them anymore and for me it was beautiful," Andrix said.

They got their first good sign this morning when their cat Willie - who normally sleeps in the now-collapsed barn - came out ready for some breakfast.

Posted by WTOL 11 on Monday, June 21, 2021

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