Crews Continue To Cleanup In Gaylord After Hundreds Of Homes Damaged By Tornado

(CNN) - Crews in Gaylord are still cleaning up after Friday's deadly tornado.

Hundreds of homes were damaged, and now the community is coming together to help.

"We are at 48 injured and two fatalities," said Chief John Deming/Dir., Otsego County Emergency Management.

A few more injuries since the update over the weekend, some of them still critical.

Getting help was also critical, and hundreds of people responded to the scene.

"I had five engines and a supervisor come out of Grand Traverse and Benzie and Leelanau. And I had five ambulances from those respective counties coming to help me," said Deming.

The emergency management director says they also had help from surrounding counties.

Plus, 40 first responders from Oakland County, and another 20 from Metro Detroit.

"We've had people come from as far away as-- I know my officer spoke to somebody from Pittsburgh who came to help out in the cleanup. People from Ohio, people from Indiana. Just an amazing outpouring of people," said, Chief Frank Claeys, Gaylord Police Department.

Early counts reveal 1,500 volunteers and damage to 300 homes throughout Gaylord.

"Close community response has been amazing. I've seen people that I have known for the last 25 years out in the street with chainsaws and tractors. Our officers were searching home to home in neighborhoods that we knew the occupants of those homes. We knew who we were looking for in those buildings," said Claeys.

In addition to this, Deming said, "Many victims were trapped in their cars or tossed around in their cars, roll down the road in their cars. When you see it on TV... you feel for them. You see the devastation. But when it's in your neighborhood, it's a different story. It's real life."

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