Tornadoes tore through Michigan communities Tuesday evening as severe storms battered the Midwest, officials said, bringing more destruction a day after tornadoes in the Southern Plains killed at least one person and damaged dozens of homes.
Officials in Kalamazoo County in southern Michigan said they were responding to a tornado that struck Portage city with about 50,000 inhabitants, The deserted streets were littered with downed power lines, trees and construction debris.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Kalamazoo and neighboring St. Joseph, Branch and Cass counties, which were also battered by storms and large hail.
At least two tornadoes had ripped through the region, the governor said.
There was destruction throughout Kalamazoo County, including significant damage to one FedEx facility in Portage, according to Andrew Alspach, a spokesman for the Kalamazoo County Office of Emergency Management. FedEx said in a statement that there were no serious injuries at the facility.
Kalamazoo County officials could not immediately be reached Tuesday evening. About 18,000 customers in the province were without power, according to the report PowerOutage.us.
As storms moved through the region Tuesday, the Weather Service issued a series of tornado warnings for cities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan and Ohio.
The storms were expected to continue for a third day. About 9.5 million people in cities in Ohio and Kentucky, including Columbus, Cincinnati and Louisville, were at increased risk of severe thunderstorms, with the possibility of strong tornadoes and large hail, on Wednesday, forecasters said. according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
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The Weather Service had previously warned that storms moving across the Midwest on Tuesday would bring heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding in some local areas. Urban areas, roads, small streams and low-lying areas were the most vulnerable, meteorologists said.
There were reportedly at least fifteen tornadoes on Monday evening affected parts of the Plains. A tornado as wide as two miles wide ripped through Barnsdall, Oklahoma, a city about 40 miles northwest of Tulsa, killing one person, an Osage County official said.
An Osage County official said about a third of the small city of about 1,000 residents was razed, causing multiple injuries. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported that up to 40 homes in the city were damaged.
The tornado also lifted the roof of a nursing home in Barnsdall, although all residents had no injuries or deaths, officials said.
Mayor Johnny Kelley said one person was reported missing.
“We are examining the debris very thoroughly,” Mr. Kelley said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Given the widespread destruction, it was “shocking” that there were so few casualties. He said: “The destruction is quite substantial.”
The tornado also caused power outages in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. But by early Tuesday, power had largely been restored.
In Bartlesville, Oklahoma, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Barnsdall, city officials said emergency crews had rescued people trapped in a Hampton Inn and were working to repair downed power lines early Tuesday. Only minor injuries were reported.
Rescue operations were also underway on the Osage Nation Reservation, where officials warned residents to stay off roads and damaged areas.
Johnny Diaz, Judson Jones, John Yoon And Jesus Jimenez reporting contributed.