At least 6 dead after tornado rips through Michigan and storms hit central U.S.

Authorities searched through rubble and debris in southern Michigan on Saturday after at least six people were killed in Michigan and Oklahoma as powerful storms produced at least one tornado that reduced homes to rubble, sent parts of roofs flying into the air and left a trail of debris hanging from power lines. 

The Michigan storms knocked down trees as tornado warnings were issued across the southern part of the state.

In the Union Lake area of Branch County, about two hours outside Detroit, there were three reported deaths, 12 injuries and three individuals transported to the hospital as of Friday evening, the Branch County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. 

About 50 miles southwest, in Cass County, there was one reported death, authorities said. Cass County Emergency Manager Manny DeLaRosa said in a statement that multiple large structures, including homes and pole barns, sustained damage ranging from major structural impacts to complete destruction.

First responders from multiple agencies in the Union Lake area near Union City looked for more possible victims and worked to clear roads, authorities said. Photos and videos posted on social media showed flattened homes and downed trees in a lakeside neighborhood.

Severe thunderstorms that began in northern Indiana appeared to spawn multiple tornadoes in southern Michigan the previous day, said meteorologist Lonnie Fisher of the National Weather Service, which sent teams to the region to evaluate the damage and confirm tornadoes.

“Most likely there were three distinct tornadoes, but we won’t know 100% for sure until they finish the survey,” Fisher said, adding that the storms intensified rapidly in southern Michigan after hitting northern Indiana.

An EF-3 tornado was confirmed in southern Michigan, near Union City, on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, and there were reports of possible others. Tornado watches were posted in the afternoon for eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania and New York.

“We look out the window and saw the tornado go right down the strip and that’s where my daughter is, where my parents, where I live down the road,” a Three Rivers, Michigan resident told CBS Saturday Morning. “I was just very grateful that God protected my daughter and my mom and sister and my family.”

Part of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Union City was damaged, although its nearly 150-year-old grand piano was spared, it said in a post on Facebook.

The combination of a weather system that pulled moisture out of the Gulf of Mexico and a warm front that moved north created the right conditions for a tornado in a state where they’re relatively rare, according to David Roth, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The system encountered much cooler air in the Great Lakes area.

Michigan gets an average of 15 tornadoes a year, which is much less than the 155 for Texas and 96 for Kansas, he said.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the state’s Emergency Operations Center Friday “to coordinate an all-hands-on-deck response to severe weather,” she said in a statement.

In the Edwardsburg area, near the Indiana border, officials reported downed trees and several homes that had been heavily damaged, and warned residents to avoid the area. 

In St. Joseph County, about 34 miles northeast of Edwardsburg, the sheriff’s office told residents to “seek shelter immediately” following reports of an unconfirmed tornado, a severe thunderstorm watch and possible winds of more than 60 mph. 

“Citizens should anticipate power outages, closed roadways and/or neighborhoods and cellular/internet interruptions,” the office said on Facebook.

Oklahoma also sees possible tornado activity, at least 2 killed

In Beggs, about 30 miles south of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a tornado was blamed for the deaths of two people in a house on Friday, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office said. Two others were taken to a hospital.

The tornado cut a roughly 4-mile path of damage in Okmulgee County, including Beggs, said Jeff Moore, the county’s emergency manager. Large trees toppled and power outages were reported.

“We’re just getting everywhere as fast as we can, clearing roads as fast we can,” Moore said.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt indicated in a social media post that both Beggs and Tulsa had been hit by tornadoes. 

In an eerie scene captured on video Thursday, a first responder drove straight at a storm near the western Oklahoma town of Fairview, where flashes of lightning illuminated a giant funnel that appeared to reach the ground. That storm, among the first outbreaks of severe weather on the verge of the spring storm season, was filmed by a camera mounted on the deputy’s car.

Nearby, a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter from Fairview were found dead in a vehicle near an intersection of a highway and a county road at about 10 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. The crash “appears to be tornado related,” Sarah Stewart, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said in a statement.

“Severe weather struck Major County last night and tragically claimed the lives of a mother and daughter,” Stitt said in a statement Friday. “I am praying for the family as they grieve this tragic loss, as well as all those impacted by the storms.”

The National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, planned to send out a damage survey crew Friday to see whether Thursday night’s storms were confirmed tornadoes, meteorologist Ryan Bunker said. “As of right now, we’re still investigating that.”