Police Report Two Deaths From Tornado in Northern Michigan
GAYLORD, Mich. — A second person died in a rare tornado that hit a small community in northern Michigan, state police said Saturday.
The person was in their 70s and lived in a mobile home park, Lt. Derrick Carroll said.
The tornado struck Gaylord, a city of about 4,200 people roughly 230 miles (370 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, at around 3:45 p.m. Friday.
More than 40 people were injured.
The Nottingham mobile home park was among the first sites hit by the tornado, Carroll said.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Otsego County, making further state resources available to the county.
Extreme spring winds are uncommon in the area because the Great Lakes suck energy out of storms, especially early in the season when the lakes are very cold, said Jim Keysor, a Gaylord-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“Many kids and young adults would have never experienced any direct severe weather if they had lived in Gaylord their entire lives,” he said.