DORR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A home-owner is fortunate to be alive after a tree fell by way of his roof and crashed into his eating room as tornadoes tore by way of West Michigan Thursday night time.
Harvey Potter has lived on Swansea Road close to Wayland for over 25 years. He and his late spouse constructed the home from scratch.
“25 years, you’ve got things the way you want them, you know?” he informed Information 8 Sunday.
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As 5 confirmed tornadoes tore by way of West Michigan Thursday night, Potter was sitting in his eating room because the storms headed his approach. He was following together with storm protection. His dwelling was on the tail finish of a dissipating confirmed EF1 twister, the Sandy Pines twister, which was carrying harmful winds.
“The power went off,” he recalled. “So I run downstairs and within two minutes trees start falling. It was noisy, it was really loud.”
Because the storm struck, Potter estimates between 20 and 30 bushes fell down outdoors. Considered one of them crashed by way of his roof and into his eating room, the place Potter was sitting simply 5 minutes earlier than.
“Another 50 feet over it would’ve taken out the whole house really,” he stated.
Potter considers himself fortunate he made it to security simply in time.
“I just think the good Lord was looking out for me,” he stated. “Gave me the sense enough to get down to the basement before the tree fell.”
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Left behind is a gap in his roof, three destroyed home windows and insulation and drywall everywhere. Crews later took a 70-ton crane to drag the tree out of his dwelling.
A tree fallen on Harvey Potter’s dwelling close to Wayland after storms. (Courtesy Steve Haaksma)
Harm inside Harvey Potter’s dwelling close to Wayland after a tree fell on it throughout storms. (Courtesy Steve Haaksma)
His yard stays coated in fallen bushes. A lot of his belongings from the kitchen and eating room are actually packed up in packing containers.
Potter does have insurance coverage. An adjustor is popping out Monday to evaluate the injury.
“That’s one thing about insurance,” he stated. “You pay it every year and you wonder, ‘Man, this is a lot.’ But what I just had happen to me, you’re awful happy you have insurance, you know?”
