Battered by repeated tornadoes, Cass County continues storm cleanup

CASS COUNTY, Mich. -- Cass County, Michigan is far away from “Tornado Alley" but you wouldn't know it from recent history.

Kelly Agee’s yard is still in shambles from an EF-1 tornado that tore through the Edwardsburg area on March 6. "It just looks like a bomb went off back here," Agee said. 

But the tornado didn’t stop there. Ninety-five mile per hour winds tossed trees onto her family's garages.

"It just felt like the whole house came alive and was moving. And it was just quite terrifying," Agee recalled. Her husband’s car suffered thousands of dollars' worth of damage. "We had another tree that fell on our house. We had water coming into our house. So, it's just been really quite devastating,” Agee explained.

Unfortunately, this is not Agee’s only encounter with severe weather in Cass County. Another tornadic storm targeted her house, and that same garage, on March 30th, 2025. Funds to help fix that disaster arrived comically late, as Agee just received the final check from her insurance company in early April 2026.

The coincidence has Agee thinking twice about wanting to rebuild again. "Should we even stay here? - That thought has crossed our minds,” Agee admitted. “I think our plan is, let's rebuild it. Let's get it back to where it was and then let's see how we feel." 

Despite the disasters, what Agee feels right now is gratitude. She’s thankful for all the support from neighbors and local organizations helping her through yet another tornado cleanup. "People are just overwhelmingly good in times like this, and it's just such a blessing to have a wonderful community," Agee said.

Manny DeLaRosa has been the Cass County Michigan Emergency Manager for four years. He said keeping up with all the severe weather coming through the county has been a challenge. “Unfortunately, we've had a lot of incidents here," DeLaRosa explained. "However, it's helping us respond quicker and more effectively every time we get hit with another storm."

Right after the tornado on March 6, DeLaRosa went door to door, checking on storm victims and surveying the damage. He also helped organize something unique to Cass County, setting up a Multi-agency Resource Center at the Edwardsburg Library Branch a few weeks after the tornado hit.

"It's a one stop shop,” DeLaRosa said. “Instead of trying to hunt down all these different agencies, they're all there in one place. And it was a great turnout, and I got a lot of good feedback."

However, storm recovery doesn’t just stop after a few weeks. DeLaRosa says it will probably take at least a year or two for the Edwardsburg area to get fully back to normal. That’s why Cass County is creating a “long-term recovery group,” where local leaders and organizations will continue to check on residents well after storms have passed.

"We're letting them know that we're here. If they identify anything down the road, they can get a hold of us, and we'll see what we can do or who we can connect them with."