Powerful storms have ripped through parts of Michigan and Oklahoma, leaving flattened homes and scattered debris.
Volunteers are assisting residents with cleanup, sifting through rubble, as severe weather threats linger across the US midsection.
Authorities, meanwhile, searched through rubble and debris in southern Michigan on Saturday after suspected tornadoes tore through the region and killed four people, including a 12-year-old boy, during powerful storms also blamed for two deaths in eastern Oklahoma.
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.
The National Weather Service said an initial assessment confirmed that an EF3 tornado with winds of at least 150 mph (241 kph) struck the Union Lake area Friday.
The weather service also reported seven preliminary tornado tracks in eastern Oklahoma that same day, according to the state’s emergency operations center.
The threat of severe weather continued Saturday in the nation’s midsection, with tornado watches posted in the afternoon for eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania and New York.
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.
“Mostly 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.
Three people were killed and 12 were injured in the Union Lake area, according to the Branch County Sheriff’s Office.
It was the second tornado to hit Union City in two years. An EF1 tornado with 95 mph (153 kph) winds touched down briefly in May 2024 and destroyed a machine shed.
Lisa Piper stood on her back deck and took video of a terrifying scene that played out on the other side of frozen Union Lake as a funnel cloud formed and then dropped toward the ground Friday. Trees were torn from their roots, and debris flew into the air.
“It’s lifting houses!” she said. As the devastation continued, she exclaimed: “Oh my heart is pounding. Oh, I hope they’re OK.”
Dan Taylor raced home to Union City from his cleaning job at a nearby hospital that day to find his brother and two dogs safe. But a tree fell on his home of 20 years, and portions of the roof of a house across the street blew into his yard.
“I didn’t know what to say. I was lost for words,” he said Saturday. “I’m just thankful that my brother’s all right, my dogs, because it could have turned bad. We’re not guaranteed of anything.”
About 50 miles (81 kilometers) southwest of Union Lake, a 12-year-old boy died and several other people were injured during a possible tornado, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said. Sheriff Clint Roach said in a Facebook post that Silas Anderson’s parents found him injured and provided first aid, but he later died at a hospital.
Disaster relief workers went door to door in the Union City and Three Rivers areas to offer meals and cleanup supplies. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would declare a state of emergency in Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties.
