KALAMAZOO, MI –– Southwest Michigan, it’s been a year.
Kalamazoo saw one of its biggest tornadoes in 40 years, which did irreparable damage to mobile home parks, businesses and neighborhoods.
Yet, with resounding resilience, people began building back and healing.
Related: 6 months later, the Portage tornado scars linger
MLive photojournalists documented the Kalamazoo area’s highs, lows and everything in between.
We captured the smiles from new businesses and long-standing restaurants. The joys of high school proms and Friday night lights. Life on college campuses.
We covered the pulse of a presidential election, including Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to “Kamala-zoo.”
We shared the stories of families still healing from loss.
Related: 4 years later: 2 unsolved killings 90 minutes apart haunt grieving Kalamazoo families
We documented the homelessness crisis and those working to combat it.
We hope these photos can serve as an archive of what life was like — a mixture of laughs and tears — for Southwest Michiganders this year.
Below are 30 of our favorite Kalamazoo-area photos from 2024. For more, check out our 198-photo gallery summarizing 2024 by clicking this link.
(You can order prints of many of these photos by clicking the “Buy photo” button in the caption of each photo. Subscribers click the “Get photo” link to download high-resolution images to their device for free as part of their subscription. To subscribe, click this link.
Seniors accepted their diplomas and stepped into the next chapter of life during Portage Central High School’s graduation at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Friday, May 31, 2024.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Ice covers the St. Joseph north pier outer lighthouse at Tiscornia Park in St. Joseph, Michigan on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Joel Bissell | MLive.com
Presidential Candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Former First Lady Michelle Obama during a campaign event for Democratic Presidential Nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Vicksburg quarterback Hunter Bell (9) grabs the American flag from the student section during a football game at Vicksburg High School on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Paw Paw won 34-7.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Drag Queen Monique Madison walks the stage during the Kalamazoo Pride Festival at Arcadia Creek Festival Place in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Friday, June 7, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Thomas Reyna, 4 of Kalamazoo, puts on his glasses to watch the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024 at the Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum in Portage, Mich. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Peyton Groetsema and his father Stan look at what is left of home in Pavilion Estates community on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, after potential tornadoes hit the night before. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Scenes from the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi’s annual Pow Wow on June 23, 2024, on the Pine Creek Indian Reservation in Fulton, Michigan.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Kalamazoo Central’s Isaiah Theodile (11) blocks a shot during a basketball game at Kalamazoo Central High School on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. Kalamazoo Central defeated Grand Rapids Christian, 60-49.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Troy Marble, 24, smokes a cigarette as he looks at what is left of his home in Pavilion Estates community on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, after potential tornadoes hit the night before. Marble was in the home with his grandmother when he felt the impact of trees on either side of him and a fierce wind tunnel. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Lee Prince, 54, stands near his belongings ––- all tucked away into a clear plastic bag –– at a homeless encampment lines the sidewalk a few blocks behind the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. “You can’t hold on to nothing,” Prince said. “Packing up and leaving doesn’t mean that you’ve hit rock bottom and you’re always starting over. Nah. It just means that psychologically you know that that’s a part of your life now. It’s so much a part of your life that it’s routinely something you don’t even think about anymore. It’s a part of American culture…”Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Lee Markley Jr. works on a bike in front of a homeless encampment, near a billboard on the City of Kalamazoo’s Brownfield Property on Thursday, August. 1, 2024. Markley Jr. travels with several bikes and bike parts and has made business within the unhoused community through his work on bikesDevin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
A damaged FedEx center in Portage pictured on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. A tornado ripped through the area the evening of May 7.Neil Blake | MLive.com
Michele and Melody Coleman reflect on the life of their son and grandson DeVante Coleman at their home on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Devante was murdered on July 22, 2020, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was in the yard of his sister’s house. The case is still unsolved as there has been zero witness cooperation. “This man is still walking around and not getting punished for taking our son from us,” Michele Coleman said. “He had his whole life ahead of him… It’s four years ago but it’s like it happened yesterday. I can’t get this hurt out my heart for nothing. Everyday I have to wake up and make myself go on because my son is not here.”Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
A destroyed home viewed from the above sits along Centre Avenue in Portage pictured on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. A tornado ripped through the area the evening of May 7.Neil Blake | MLive.com
A child inside the YMCA Northside Early Learning Center watches as Jamauri Bogan, of Bogan Developments, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer prepare to visit them in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Kyle and Aaron Baker hold their newborn at One Well in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, as their daughter, Logan, 3, looks on. Aptly-named Forrest Wells Baker was born four miles shy of the hospital in the One Well parking lot.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Lifeguards dove into the water and made their way back to the beach in a series of rescue drills.(Brad Devereaux | [email protected])
Nate Poindexter holds five-month- old Sabrina Rose, during a community resource event hosted by Kalamazoo Coalition for the Unhoused at the Salvation Army in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Poindexter is Rose’s uncle –– the pair are in the same “group” and are a part of the unhoused community of Kalamazoo.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Derek Jeter’s father Dr. S. Charles Jeter throws out the first pitch during the first games on Jeter Family Fields on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Kalamazoo Central hosted Loy Norrix.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Kalamazoo United running back Keegan McCue (12) celebrates after a football game at Parchment High School on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. Kalamazoo United won 35-13, clinching the SAC-Lakeshore conference championship.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Two children spent part of the afternoon on Friday, Sept. 20, resting at the bus station in downtown Kalamazoo. They were with their mother and others underneath the bus stop awning, trying to escape the rain. They do not have a home, according to the kids' mother, who gave permission for the photo.(Brad Devereaux | [email protected])
Western Michigan soccer’s Christian Shannon (14) celebrates after scoring a goal during Western Michigan vs. SIUE in the first round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament at WMU Soccer Complex in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.Matthew Ehler | MLive.com
Coty Lyon reacts at her sentencing on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024 at the Judge Charles A. Pratt Justice Center in Kalamazoo, Mich. Lyon was sentenced to serve between 22 months and 15 years in prison on one charge of manslaughter in the 2021 death of her 21-month-old daughter Lyon Olivia Louisa Stripling.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Karen Krajewski looks for keepsakes in the rubble of her childhood home at Oak Brook Estates in Kalamazoo County, Michigan on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, over a week after the May 7 tornadoes that devastated the community.Alec Urivez | Next Door Photos
Loy Norrix’s Jonathon Pyle (12) kicks the ball during a soccer game between Portage Central and Loy Norrix on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Demolition of North Westnedge Church of Christ in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. The property is owned The Galilee Baptist Church. Joel Bissell | MLive.com
Mike Kazeks mows his lawn, surrounded by fallen trees, following the aftermath of multiple tornadoes, on Friday, May 17, 2024, in the Colony Woods neighborhood of Texas Township, Michigan.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Western Michigan Broncos wide receiver Malique Dieudonne (17) reaches to catch a ball during Western Michigan University vs Akron football at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024Josh Boland | MLive.com
Cassie Schultz helps unload four-pawed Hurricane Helene refugees that arrived by plane at Duncan Aviation in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. 15 dogs and 19 cats from North Carolina and Tennessee were transferred from the care of Bissell Pet Foundation to SPCA of Southwest Michigan. SPCA is looking for foster and forever homes for the animals, as they prepare to take on more pet refugees from Hurricane Milton.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
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