Five people are killed in Michigan after severe storms and tornadoes cause damage and power outages.

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 (121 kph) that downed trees, tore roofs off buildings and killed five people while leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without power, officials said.

National Weather Service confirms on Friday that a EF-1 with wind speeds of 90 mph crossed the border of Livingston County from Ingham County.

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.

Kent County Sheriffs Office reported that in western Michigan, two vehicles were involved in a head-on collision, killing a 21 year-old woman as well as two children, aged one and three, on Thursday evening.

“There was two vehicles traveling toward each other. One hydroplaned on water and it was occupied by four people,” Sgt. Eric Brunner, WZZM TV.

According to the sheriff’s office, a Gowen 22-year old man driving the vehicle that was carrying a Gowen woman as well as two young girls suffered serious injuries in the accident. The crash occurred after his vehicle collided with an SUV. This vehicle’s driver sustained minor injuries.

One person was killed in Lansing on Thursday evening after a fallen tree struck a house. Lansing Police Department Spokeswoman Jordan Gulkis informed the Lansing State Journal, that one person had been extricated from the residence by firefighters but was later pronounced deceased at a local hospital.

In Ingham County (where Lansing, Michigan is located), the sheriffs department said on Friday that one confirmed death was reported and several others were seriously injured. More than 25 vehicles suffered severe damage 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.

Weather service officials in Grand Rapids in western Michigan said they would be on the ground Friday to conduct damage surveys of a possible 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.”

Berry, his neighbours and the tree were left without electricity. The powerlines fell onto Berrys yard, his driveway, and even one car.

“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.

After flooding forced municipalities to dump partially or entirely untreated wastewater, the county warned residents not to come into contact with certain rivers.

Candice Miller, Commissioner of Public Works in Macomb County (northeast Detroit), said that several thousand basements at Eastpointe, St. Clair Shores, and St. Clair were not flooded when stormwater, wastewater, and storm drains were diverted to Lake St. Clair via an emergency bypass system. Since 2017, the bypass system has been utilized only three times. However, it was used two more times this week.

“Apparently, these storms have become our new normal,” Miller said. “This has been like a tropical storm, and both government and residents will need to make appropriate preparations whenever possible.”

Canton Township is a township of about 100,000 people located west of Detroit. It was struck by flooding earlier this week in the downtown area. Then Thursday night’s storms produced what are believed to be “two at least heavy wind shears, if not tornadoes,” said township supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak.

“Some of our parks are destroyed,” she said, adding that the township received calls from 200 residents regarding flooding in their basements.

According to Poweroutage.us, more than 460,000 Michigan customers and 218,000 Ohio consumers were left without electricity as of 11:30 am on Friday.

The storms of Thursday night followed heavy rains that fell in Southeast Michigan on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, the area had received over five inches (12,7 centimeters), causing flooding of streets in Detroit, as well as tunnels to Detroit Metropolitan Airport located in Romulus. Officials reopened the airport’s McNamara Terminal on Thursday afternoon. In the west of the state, severe storms formed in the late afternoon.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the State Emergency Operations Center on Thursday evening to provide support to affected communities “as they respond to the impacts of flooding.”

The western United States has been drenched with tropical storm Hilary’s rain in recent weeks. Much of central U.S. suffered from deadly heat. Wildfires ravaged Hawaii and Washington.

Climate change has been attributed to more severe and frequent weather extremes such as droughts, wildfires, storms, and floods by scientists. According to most peer-reviewed scientific studies, climate scientists and science organizations, the majority of climate change is caused by humans who emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the air.

Comstock Park players move debris from a subdivision off Pine Island Road, Kent County, Mich., on August 25, 2023. In Michigan, at least four severe thunderstorms, driven by powerful winds, caused multiple deaths, downed trees and roofs, as well as left thousands without power. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Globe via AP).

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