Officials survey immense tornado damage in Michigan as millions brace for severe weather
Chuck Blackburns’ wife survived the tornado that destroyed their home. He and friends walked four miles through downed trees and power piles to check on her.
Millions braced for another round of severe weather across the central and eastern U.S. Wednesday afternoon and evening, a day after a series of powerful storms unleashed tornadoes from southern Michigan to Arkansas Tuesday night, injuring over a dozen people and leaving widespread damage in its wake.
As officials and residents began clean up efforts from the overnight storms, millions of others were preparing for more severe weather. Meteorologists expect a slew of storms to wallop the central U.S. with torrential rain, hail and possible tornadoes beginning Wednesday afternoon and continuing through the night.
Portions of eight states – Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee – were under a tornado watch Wednesday afternoon, meaning conditions are ripe for tornadoes to form. Several tornado warnings were issued Wednesday afternoon across portions of Tennessee, where two tornadoes were spotted, the National Weather Service said. There were no immediate reports of injuries from those tornadoes.
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Michigan tornadoes wreak havoc
Workers inside a FedEx facility in Michigan managed to escape unharmed after it partially collapsed as tornadoes ripped through Kalamazoo County, less than 60 miles south of Grand Rapids. Nearby, a tornado hit a mobile home community, injuring up to 20 people who were hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. Around 176 properties were damaged, 17 of which were completely destroyed, said Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller in a video posted on Facebook.
“We found homes in the roadway, we found homes in neighbor’s homes,” said Fuller, urging residents to stay home as officials continue to search for people and survey the damage across the county.
In southern Ohio, officials were surveying damage after two suspected tornadoes destroyed homes, toppled trees and snapped utility poles. Storms flooded some local areas, and emergency response personnel conducted multiple rescues. Tornadoes were also reported in Arkansas, Indiana and West Virginia.
Tornadoes, hail, damaging wind forecast for parts of central US
Nearly 20 million people from northeastern Texas to Missouri and Kentucky were at enhanced or moderate risk of severe storms on Wednesday, according to the Storm Predication Center. The powerful thunderstorms were expected to bring tornadoes, giant hail and damaging winds, with the highest risk throughout Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, the prediction center said.
The cities facing potentially the worst impacts include Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis, Louisville and Little Rock, according to the weather service. A vast swath of the central and eastern U.S., from Texas to Georgia and up through New England was at slight risk of experiencing some of the poor weather.
As of 2 p.m., there were reports of overturned trees causing damage to some homes and other buildings in Tennessee, according to the weather service. In Grainger County, just outside Knoxville, officials reported many downed powerlines. Damage from wind gusts were also reported in Kentucky and Missouri, where meteorologists picked up winds speeds of 67 mph. Several school districts in Tennessee either ended classes early or called off all after school activities, according to the Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Through the day and into the evening, meteorologists anticipate multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms to slam the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys. Across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas, thunderstorms are forecast to develop by late afternoon. Along with the winds, rain and possible tornadoes, hail larger than 3 inches in diameter are a threat as the system shifts eastward through the evening.
Flood watches were in effect across Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri through Thursday, according to the weather service. Some local areas may get 2 to 5 inches of total rainfall.
‘The early warnings saved lives’
In St. Joseph County, just south of Kalamazoo, a tornado destroyed seven structures, mostly homes, Branch County Emergency Manager Tim Miner told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. There were no reports of serious injuries or deaths from the storms, which some credited to early prompt weather advisories.
“The early warnings saved lives,” said Ernie Ostuno, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Grand Rapids. “The warnings went out and people reacted to them.”
More than 25,000 homes and businesses in Michigan, mostly in the southeastern part of the state, were without power Wednesday morning, according to a USA TODAY tracker. In Ohio and Arkansas, over 10,000 utility customers reported outages.
The looming storm system spun up at least eight tornadoes in Michigan; others were reported in Arkansas, Ohio and West Virginia, according to the National Weather Service. Powerful storms pummeled the Plains region on Monday, spinning up multiple tornadoes that killed at least one person in Oklahoma, flattened homes in multiple states and caused widespread power outages.
National weather radar
Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver; Kylie Martin, Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press; Cheryl Vari, Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Officials survey immense tornado damage in Michigan as millions brace for severe weather