CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — At least one tornado touched down in Michigan as part of severe storms powered by winds of up to 75 mph that downed trees, tore roofs off buildings and killed five people while leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power, officials said.
The National Weather Service on Friday confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with winds of 90 mph crossed from Ingham County into the western edge of adjacent Livingston County on Thursday night.
Preliminary information shows that after entering Livingston County, the tornado remained on the ground for a mile or less before “weakening and lifting,” said Dave Gurney, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Oakland County’s White Lake Township.
In western Michigan, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office said a 21-year-old woman and two girls, ages 1 and 3, died Thursday night after two vehicles collided head-on as it was raining.
“There was two vehicles traveling toward each other. One hydroplaned on water and it was occupied by four people,” Sgt. Eric Brunner told WZZM-TV.
The sheriff’s office said a 22-year-old Gowen man who was driving the car carrying the Gowen woman and two girls was seriously injured in the crash, which occurred when his car struck an SUV. That vehicle’s driver suffered minor injuries.
In Lansing, the state capital, one person died Thursday night after a tree fell on a home. Lansing Police Department spokeswoman Jordan Gulkis told the Lansing State Journal that firefighters extricated one person from the home but that person was pronounced dead at a hospital.
In Ingham County, where Lansing is located, the sheriff’s office said Friday that one person was confirmed dead and several people severely injured as more than 25 vehicles were severely damaged along Interstate 96.
Trees were uprooted, and some roofs collapsed during Thursday’s storms, leaving many roads closed due to fallen trees and power lines.
The weather service office in Grand Rapids, in western Michigan, said officials would be in the field Friday conducting damage surveys on a suspected tornado in Kent County.
In the north Detroit suburb of Southfield, Muqitu Berry said he was in his ranch home about 9:30 p.m. Thursday when a large part of the trunk of a neighbor’s tree came crashing down, sounding “like a train coming through.”
The tree ended up across the front of Berry’s driveway and yard and took down power lines, dropping them onto his driveway and at least one vehicle, leaving Berry and his neighbors without power.
“I can’t get out of my driveway. I can’t go anywhere,” Berry said Friday morning. “We’re out of power, and it’s very frustrating.”
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans declared a state of emergency Friday in Michigan’s largest county, which includes Detroit, due to power outages, flooding, fallen trees and power lines and storm debris.
The county also warned residents to avoid any contact with several rivers after flooding caused municipalities to discharge partially or fully untreated wastewater into various waterways.
