Tornadoes kill 6 people in Michigan and Oklahoma as powerful storms hit nation's midsection

On Friday, the storms left swaths of damage in Michigan and Oklahoma including homes reduced to rubble and downed trees and power lines.

In Michigan, three people were killed and 12 were injured in the Union Lake area near Union City after an apparent tornado hit, according to the Branch County Sheriff’s Office. About 50 miles (81 kilometers) southwest, Cass County officials reported one death and several injuries, after a tornado touched down.

In Oklahoma, just south of Tulsa, a tornado in Beggs was blamed for the deaths of two people in a house, the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office said.

In Michigan, 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. 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.”

At least one tornado was confirmed in southern Michigan, near Union City, on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, and there were reports of possible others.

Part of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Union City was damaged, although its nearly 150-year-old grand piano was spared, it said in a post on Facebook.

The combination of a weather system that pulled moisture out of the Gulf Coast, and a warm front that moved north, created the right conditions for a tornado in a state where they're relatively rare, according to David Roth, a meteorologist at the weather service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The system encountered much cooler air in the Great Lakes area.

Michigan gets an average of 15 tornadoes a year, which is much less than the 155 for Texas and 96 for Kansas, he said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the state's Emergency Operations Center Friday “to coordinate an all-hands-on-deck response to severe weather,” she said in a statement.

In St. Joseph County, Michigan, next to the Indiana border, the sheriff’s office told residents to “seek shelter immediately” following reports of an unconfirmed tornado, a severe thunderstorm watch and possible winds more than 60 mph (96 kph).

Severe weather stretches far beyond Michigan

A tornado cut around a 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) path of damage in Okmulgee County including Beggs, some 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tulsa, said Jeff Moore, the county’s emergency manager. Large trees were toppled and power outages were reported. Two people were killed and two others were taken to a hospital, officials said.

“We’re just getting everywhere as fast as we can, clearing roads as fast we can,” Moore said.

Suspected tornadoes also were reported in northern parts of Tulsa, where a building at the Tulsa Tech Peoria campus was damaged.

In an eerie scene captured on video Thursday, a first responder drove straight at a storm near the western Oklahoma town of Fairview, where flashes of lightning illuminated a giant funnel that appeared to reach the ground. That storm, among the first outbreaks of severe weather on the verge of the spring storm season, was filmed by a camera mounted on the deputy's car.

Nearby, a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter from Fairview were found dead in a vehicle near an intersection of a highway and a county road at about 10 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

“I am praying for the family as they grieve this tragic loss, as well as all those impacted by the storms,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement Friday.

Severe storm risk continues into the weekend

The National Weather Service said strong storms and flash flood risks on Saturday stretched from the Great Lakes to Texas. A tornado watch that was issued for a large portion of Arkansas and parts of Texas and Louisiana expired in the morning.

The spring storms come near the start of what many call tornado season, which generally begins at various times in different parts of the U.S. Experts recommend a few simple safety steps to take before tornadoes hit, including having a weather radio and a plan for where to take shelter.

In parts of the southern U.S., the weather pattern is also expected to usher in extremely warm temperatures for this time of year by the weekend.

“Temperatures will be 20-30 degrees above average, with 80s reaching as far north as parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic,” federal forecasters wrote in their long-range forecast discussion. “Daily records could become widespread.”

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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire, and Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press Writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.