Michigan declares state of emergency after string of tornadoes
More than a dozen people were injured following damaging thunderstorms, tornadoes Tuesday
Severe thunderstorms and dozens of reported tornadoes tore through the Upper Midwest states Tuesday, leaving significant damage in their wake.
According to Accuweather, a total of 25 preliminary tornado reports were submitted by weather spotters across southern Michigan, Indiana and Ohio Tuesday night.
Significant damage was reported in Portage, Mich., just south of Kalamazoo, where a mobile home park and a FedEx building were destroyed. On Wednesday morning, about 30,000 utility customers were without power in the state.
Portage Department of Public Safety firefighters work to render safe ruptured natural gas lines in the aftermath of a tornado that touched down Tuesday, May 7. (Corey Murray/Hillsdale Daily News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect)
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Damage in Michigan prompted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to declare a state of emergency for Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Branch, and Cass counties after a series of tornadoes tore through the state. More than 15 people were injured, but none appeared to be life-threatening, according to Sheriff Richard Fuller in Kalamazoo County.
The threat for severe weather continued Wednesday, with U.S. forecasters warning for the potential of severe thunderstorms from parts of the mid-Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Valleys into the southern Plains.
