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At least seven tornadoes have touched down in Michigan as part of severe storms powered by strong winds that killed five people, officials said.
Key points:
- The storms damaged buildings, tore down trees and left hundreds of thousands without power
- Five EF-1 tornadoes were reported, including one with 145kph winds, and one weaker EF-0 tornado
- Five people have been confirmed dead and several severely injured
The storms downed trees, tore roofs off buildings and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power.
The US National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-2 tornado with winds of 200 kilometres per hour struck the state capital of Lansing on Thursday night, killing one and injuring three.
An EF-1 tornado with winds of 145km per hour also crossed from Ingham County into the western edge of adjacent Livingston County on Thursday.
Four other EF-1 tornadoes were reported in Bellville and Gibraltar in Wayne County, and in South Rockwood and near Newport in Monroe County.
A weaker EF-0 tornado with peak winds of 128 kph was on the ground for less than two miles in Wayne County's Canton Township, west of Detroit, the weather service said. That tornado caused a tree to fall into a house, said meteorologist Sara Schultz.
The weather service office in Grand Rapids, in western Michigan, said officials would be in the field conducting damage surveys on a suspected tornado in Kent County.
The storms featured lightning displays erupting across the night sky and dumped multiple inches of rain on communities across the lower portion of the state.
In western Michigan, the Kent County sheriff's office said a 21-year-old woman and two girls, ages 1 and 3, died after two vehicles collided head-on as it was raining.
"There was two vehicles travelling toward each other. One hydroplaned on water and it was occupied by four people," Sgt. Eric Brunner told WZZM-TV.
The sheriff's office said a 22-year-old Gowen man who was driving the car carrying the woman and two girls was seriously injured in the crash, which occurred when his car struck an SUV. That vehicle's driver suffered minor injuries.
In Lansing, an 84-year-old woman died after a tree fell on a home.
Firefighters extricated the woman from the home, but she was pronounced dead at a hospital, Lansing Police Department spokeswoman Jordan Gulkis said.
In Ingham County, where Lansing is located, the sheriff's office said that one person was confirmed dead and several people severely injured as more than 25 vehicles were severely damaged along Interstate 96.
It was not immediately clear if the storm or a crash was responsible for the wrecks on the freeway.
In the north Detroit suburb of Southfield, Muqitu Berry said he was in his ranch home about 9:30pm when a large part of the trunk of a neighbour's tree came crashing down, sounding "like a train coming through."
The tree ended up across the front of Mr Berry's driveway and yard and took down powerlines, dropping them onto his driveway and at least one vehicle, leaving Mr Berry and his neighbours without power.
"I can't get out of my driveway. I can't go anywhere," Mr Berry said. "We're out of power, and it's very frustrating."
Wayne County executive Warren Evans declared a state of emergency in Michigan's largest county, which includes Detroit, due to power outages, flooding, fallen trees and powerlines and storm debris.
The county also warned residents to avoid any contact with several rivers after flooding caused municipalities to discharge partially or fully untreated wastewater into various waterways.
In Macomb County, northeast of Detroit, several thousand basements in Eastpointe and St. Clair Shores were spared flooding when stormwater and wastewater were discharged to Lake St. Clair through an emergency bypass system, Public Works commissioner Candice Miller said. The bypass has been used only three times since 2017 but twice this week.
"Apparently, these storms have become our new normal," Ms Miller said. "This has been like a tropical storm, and both government and residents will need to make appropriate preparations whenever possible."
More than 390,000 customers in Michigan and over 120,000 in Ohio were without power as of about 7:15pm Friday, according to the Poweroutage.us website.
Thursday night's storms followed a round of heavy rain Wednesday that left areas in south-east Michigan with over 12.7 centimetres of rain, resulting in street flooding in the Detroit area, including tunnels leading to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in the suburb of Romulus, officials said.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Wayne and Monroe counties, which makes available state resources to help with response and recovery efforts related to storm damage.
The storms pushed east across Lake Erie and into north-east Ohio, uprooting trees and leaving thousands of homes and businesses without power.
A tornado also tore through part of Cleveland late Thursday night, it's path about 137 metres wide and nearly a mile long.
No injuries were reported, but several buildings were severely damaged, including the 143-year-old New Life at Calvary Church that lost its roof.
More frequent extreme weather
Parts of the western United States have been deluged in recent weeks with rain from Tropical Storm Hilary, and much of the central US was beaten down by deadly sweltering heat.
In Hawaii and Washington, emergency crews battled catastrophic wildfires.
Scientists say that without extensive study they cannot directly link a single weather event to climate change, but that climate change is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme events such as storms, droughts, floods and wildfires.
Climate change is largely caused by human activities that emit carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according to the vast majority of peer-reviewed studies, science organisations and climate scientists.
AP