All around Dexter, crews were busy clearing out the aftermath of the powerful storm that left dozens of homes without roofs or walls.
"All I saw at first was that sign flying through the air and I get to side of the house, it knocked the tile off the bathroom,” Ray Quigley described.
Quigley was starting up his generator when the tornado came Thursday afternoon. He didn't even notice it until after it struck.
“I came back in, I said, ‘What's going on here?’"
The winds uprooted the big tree in his yard, but he's one of the more fortunate ones.
Nearby, the storm left scenes of leveled homes, where the its wrath spared little, even throwing a mattress high into a tree.
But like Quigley, Spiegel considers herself lucky. The house across the street was destroyed.
Thousands remained without power Friday morning, and state police officers directed traffic at intersections where lights were out.
Neighbors are amazed at what the tornado left in its wake.
"I really come out good on this deal - you know some people don't have a second floor - they don't even have a bottom floor."
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF3 tornado ripped through Dexter. Experts say it’s rare to see tornados this early in the year. Thursday’s tornado was the earliest EF3 tornado on record in Michigan.
