Rare tornado in northern Michigan kills 1, injures more than 40


GAYLORD, Mich. — (AP) — A rare tornado in northern Michigan ripped through a small community Friday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 40 as it overturned vehicles, ripped roofs off buildings and downed trees and power lines.

The tornado hit Gaylord, a city of about 4,200 people about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, around 3:45 p.m.

Mike Klepadlo, owner of the Alter-Start North auto repair shop, said he and his workers took refuge in a bathroom.

“I am lucky to be alive. He blew up the back of the building,” she said. “Twenty feet (6 meters) of the back wall is gone. The entire roof is missing. At least half of the building is still here. It is bad.”

Emma Goddard, 15, said she was working at the Tropical Smoothie Cafe when she got a phone alert about the tornado. Thinking the weather outside seemed “stormy, but not scary,” she dismissed it and went back to what she was doing. Then her mother called and assured him that she was fine.

Two minutes later, he was serving a customer a smoothie when his co-worker’s mother ran in and yelled for them to go to the back of the building, Goddard told The Associated Press by text message. They took refuge in the cold room, where they could hear the windows being broken.

“I was crammed shoulder to shoulder with my seven co-workers, two of my co-workers’ parents, and a lady from Door Dash coming to pick up her smoothies.”

When they left the refrigerator about 15 minutes later and came out, they saw “some of our cars in pieces and insulation all over the floor,” Goddard said. Three neighboring businesses were destroyed, she said.

Brian Lawson, a spokesman for Munson Healthcare, said Otsego Memorial Hospital was treating 23 people injured by the tornado and one person was killed. He did not know the conditions of the injured or the name of the person who died.

The Michigan State Patrol confirmed that one person was killed and said in a tweet that more than 40 people were injured and were being treated at area hospitals. The patrol planned to hold a briefing on Saturday morning.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Mayor Todd Sharrard said. “I’m numb.”

Video posted online showed a dark funnel cloud materializing from a cloud as nervous drivers watched or slowly backed away, unsure of their path.

Another video showed extensive damage along the city’s main street. One building appeared to have largely collapsed and a Goodwill store was badly damaged. A collapsed utility pole lay on the side of the road, and debris, including what appeared to be power lines and parts of a Marathon gas station, was strewn across the street.

The Red Cross set up a shelter in a church.

Brandie Slough, 42, said she and a teenage daughter sought safety in a bathroom at Culver’s. The windows of the fast food restaurant were blown out as they left, and her truck flipped on its roof in the parking lot.

“We shake our heads in disbelief, but are thankful to be safe. At that point, who cares about the truck,” Slough said.

Eddie Thrasher, 55, said he was sitting in his car outside an auto parts store when the tornado appeared to appear above him.

“There are businesses with roofs ripped off, a row of industrial-type warehouses,” Thrasher said. “RVs were overturned and destroyed. There were a lot of emergency vehicles heading from the east side of town.”

He said he ran to the store to hold on.

“My adrenaline was going crazy,” Thrasher said. “In less than five minutes it was over.”

Extreme winds are rare in this part of Michigan because the Great Lakes absorb storm energy, especially in early spring when the lakes are very cold, said Jim Keysor, a Gaylord-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

“Many children and young adults would never have experienced direct severe weather if they had lived in Gaylord their entire lives,” he said.

The last time Gaylord had a strong windstorm was in 1998, when straight-line winds reached 100 mph, Keysor said. He said the conditions that spawned Friday’s tornado included a cold front moving in from Wisconsin and pummeling warm, moist air over Gaylord, with the added ingredient of rotating winds in the lower atmosphere.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Otsego County, making more state resources available to the county.

Gaylord, known as the “Alpine Village”, is scheduled to celebrate his 100th birthday this year, with a centenary celebration including a parade and open house at City Hall later this summer.

The community also holds the annual Alpenfest in July, an Alpine-inspired celebration that honors the city’s heritage and a partnership with a sister city in Switzerland.

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White reported from Detroit. AP reporters Corey Williams in Detroit, Ken Kusmer in Indianapolis, Sara Burnett in Chicago and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed.




Reference-www.boston25news.com

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