a A rare tornado swept through northern Michigan in a small community on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 40 others as it overturned vehicles, destroyed rooftops and toppled trees and power lines.
The tornado hit Gaylord, which has a population of about 4,200 people, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, around 3:45 p.m.
Mike Klipadlow, who owns the Alter-Start North auto repair shop, said he and his workers hid in the bathroom.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” he said. “He blew up the back of the building.” “Twenty feet (6 metres) from the back wall is gone. The entire roof is missing. At least half of the building is still here. It’s bad.”
Emma Goddard, 15, said she was working at a Tropical Smoothie when she received a hurricane alert. Thought the weather outside seemed “windy, but not frightening,” she dismissed it and went back to what she was doing. Then her mother called and assured her mother that she was fine.
Two minutes later, she was pouring a customer’s juice when a co-worker’s mother rushed to yell for them to get to the back of the building, Goddard told The Associated Press by text message. They took refuge in the refrigeration room, where they heard the sound of shattering windows.
“I was packed shoulder to shoulder with my seven co-workers, two of my co-workers’ parents and a lady from the role of Dash coming over to pick up her juices.”
When they left the radiator about 15 minutes later and got out, they saw “some of our cars cut and insulated on the floor,” Goddard said. She added that three neighboring companies were destroyed.
Brian Lawson, a spokesman for Monson Healthcare, said Otsego Memorial Hospital was treating 23 people injured by the tornado and that one person was killed. Neither the condition of the injured nor the name of the deceased is known.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
The Michigan State Patrol confirmed the death of one person, saying in a tweet on Twitter that more than 40 others had been injured and were being treated in area hospitals. The patrol planned to hold a briefing on Saturday morning.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Mayor Todd Charrard said. “I feel numb.”
A video posted online showed a dark funnel cloud emerging from a cloud as nervous drivers looked on or slowly turned away, unsure of its path.
Another video showed great damage along the main street of the city. One of the buildings appeared to have collapsed considerably 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 electrical wires and parts from a Marathon gas station, was strewn along the street.
The Red Cross set up a shelter in one of the churches.
Brandi Slough, 42, said she and her teenage daughter sought safety in a restroom in Culver. The windows of the fast food restaurant were shattered when they walked out, and her pickup truck flipped onto its rooftop in the parking lot.
“We shook our heads in disbelief but grateful we were 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 a tornado appeared to appear above him.
“There are works whose roofs have been torn apart, a row of industrial warehouses,” Thrasher said. “The RV’s were turned upside down and destroyed. There were a lot of emergency vehicles heading from the east side of town.”
He said he ran to the store to ride it.
“My adrenaline was going crazy,” Thrasher said. “In less than five minutes it’s over.”
Extreme winds are uncommon in this part of Michigan because the Great Lakes absorb energy from storms, especially in early spring when the lakes are very cold, said Jim Kesor, a Gaylord meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
“Many children and young adults would not have experienced any direct severe weather if they had lived in Gaylord their whole lives,” he said.
The last time Gaylord was hit by a heavy gust of wind was in 1998, when straight-line winds reached 100mph, Kesor said. He said the conditions that generated the tornado on Friday included a cold front moving out of Wisconsin and hitting hot, humid air over Gaylord, with the added component of wind circulating in the lower part of the atmosphere.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in Otsego County, freeing more state resources for the county.
Popularly known as “The Alpine Village,” Gaylord is set to celebrate its 100th birthday this year, with a centenary celebration that includes a parade and an open house at City Hall later this summer.
The community also holds the annual Alpenfest in July, an Alpine-inspired celebration honoring the city’s heritage and a partnership with a sister city in Switzerland.
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