(CNN) — Just under 700,000 homes and businesses were without power in parts of Michigan and Ohio as of early Friday after a forceful round of storms brought heavy rain, strong winds and at least one confirmed tornado to the region.
The storms moved from southern Michigan into Ohio overnight, threatening strong wind gusts of up to 80 mph, hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter and possible tornadoes. Portions of northern Ohio are under a flood watch until 8 am Miami time Friday due to excessive rain.
A large and “extremely dangerous” tornado was confirmed near Williamston, Michigan, in Ingham County around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service offices in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Storm conditions caused several vehicles to overturn on nearby Interstate 96 Thursday night, apparently pinning some drivers inside their vehicles, Michigan State Police Lt. René González told CNN.
A tree was downed by storms in Lansing, Michigan on Friday, August 25. (Credit: WILX)
There were no fatal injuries in Ingham County, according to Rob Dale of the county’s office of emergency management. Fewer than 10 non-life-threatening injuries were sustained on the interstate, he said.
Bad weather affected a rural part of the county, mostly farmland, Dale told CNN. Some houses were damaged and some barns destroyed, she said.
“Everybody that was in houses or buildings is fine,” Dale said, noting that the roof of an assisted living facility collapsed, but everyone inside was safe and uninjured. Authorities plan to reassess the damage in the county during daylight hours.
The storms left 400,000 people without power in southern Michigan and nearly 300,000 in the dark in northern Ohio overnight, according to PowerOutage.us.
This Thursday night a strong gust of 112 km / h was registered in Detroit.
The storms come on the heels of an earlier round of heavy rain in southern Michigan and northern Ohio on Thursday morning.
Earlier downpours disrupted flights at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and overnight flooding resulted in road closures. About 18% of flights originating from the airport were canceled on Thursday, although roads were reopened later in the day.
— CNN’s Andy Rose, Paradise Afshar and Michelle Watson contributed to this report.
2023-08-25 09:20:00
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