LANSING, Mich — Cleanup continues following Friday's severe storm, and a local business owner is being credited with helping a 74-year-old woman find shelter as conditions deteriorated.
WATCH BELOW: 'He beckoned me in': Holt shop owner shelters woman caught in Friday's storm
Wendy Ehnis, a Mason resident, said she was making a routine stop at Mr. Leslie's Cheesecakes in Holt when the storm moved in.
"It started at the corner of Aurelius and Holt, and it was just a sudden downpour," Ehnis said.
Ehnis said high winds and heavy rain made it nearly impossible to see, both while driving and after she got out of her car.
"When I jumped out of the car it was raining so hard, I forgot my phone, my purse, everything. I just jumped out and I started running through the rain and just before I got to the door, it opened up and I saw him beckon me in," Ehnis said.
Marcus Leslie, owner of Mr. Leslie's Cheesecakes, said he and his wife made a deliberate decision to keep the business accessible as the storm approached.
"We actually intentionally left the open sign on, left the doors unlocked, even though we were taking shelter in the back in the walk-in. Me and my wife were going back and forth to make sure no one was stuck out there and that's when we saw Wendy," Leslie said.
Leslie said he brought Ehnis to the back freezer as sirens sounded.
"Put me in with his family and kept me warm with the big chef coats," Ehnis said.
Ehnis said the experience left her with a sense of gratitude, adding she likely would have remained in her car, scared, had Leslie not intervened.
For Leslie, the decision was straightforward.
"We would just hope that people would do what we would do. Be good human beings," Leslie said.
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