Miracle Camp hit hard by Friday's Storm

VAN BUREN CO., Mich. (Newschannel 3) - Friday's storm hit hard around many of West Michigan's inland lakes, and the Miracle Camp and Retreat Center just south of Lawton was no exception.

The camp's director, Larry Brovan, says it's nothing short of a miracle that all of the 75 people staying at the camp survived the storm without injury.

"I was in the tornado in Kalamazoo several years ago, so I remembered that darkness and things going horizontal, so we just quick got everybody in the safest place in the bottom of the lodge," said Brovan. "I don't know how long it lasted, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, it seemed like an eternity."

Trees, either snapped off, or uprooted littered the camp in the calm after the storm, some having crashed into at least two buildings and a minivan, and many power lines were torn down as well.

The clean-up is likely to take days, but the camp's staff is hopeful they can be ready in time for the more than 100 campers set to show up Sunday afternoon.

Brovan says it's ironic that counselors had just received training earlier in the day, learning what to do in case of a weather emergency.

"We just told our staff in the last 30 some years there had only been 16 bad storms, so it does happen, but it's not that frequent," he said. "I guess now we can say in the last 30 some years there's only been 17 bad storms."

By Friday night, dozens of volunteers from the area were already pitching in to help workers clean up the camp, and dozens more from as far away as Ohio, are still expected to show up to help as well.