Two people have died and 44 others were injured when a rare tornado struck Northern Michigan on Friday afternoon, authorities said.
Michigan State Police confirmed the fatalities Friday evening and said 44 people were taken to multiple hospitals in Northern Michigan. Conditions of the patients were unavailable. One person has been reported missing, authorities said Saturday.
The tornado that struck the city of Gaylord, about 230 miles north of Detroit, created damage consistent with an EF3 rating, and had maximum winds of 150 mph, the National Weather Service said Saturday.
It damaged an unknown number of homes and businesses and felled trees and power lines, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. Michigan State Police Lt. Derrick Carroll said Saturday that his understanding was both fatalities were located at an area mobile home park hit hard by the rotating column of air. Authorities named the location as Nottingham Forest Mobile Home park west of Gaylord’s center, where they estimated 95 percent of residences sustained extensive damage, according to NBC affiliate WPBN of Traverse City, Michigan
The station aired images of mobile homes flipped and neighboring structures near Gaylord Cinema West theaters ripped apart. At a Friday evening news conference the governor signed a declaration of emergency for Otsego County, which includes Gaylord. —AP
