WILLIAMSTON (WWJ) -- A tornado hit Ingham County on Thursday night, flipping vehicles on the freeway, and leaving one person dead.
National Weather Service Detroit Meteorologist Steve Considine tells WWJ Newsradio 950 the tornado is believed to have touched down southeast of Lansing near Webberville.
The suspected tornado was seen around 9:50 p.m. near Fowlerville and Williamston, and was moving east at 40 mph.
High winds from the storm left some of the worst destruction west of Howell, particularly along a portion of I-96 between Williamston and Webberville, where cars and semi-trucks were overturned.
According to Northeast Ingham Emergency Service Authority Chief Mike Yanz, there were 13 semis flipped over and 22 other vehicles damaged.
One person was killed, and there were several other minor injuries, Yanz said.
Yanz told WWJ's Taylor Dietz that the roof collapsed at an adult foster care center in Williamston, but there were no injuries. The building has been evacuated.
WWJ’s Jeff Gilbert was on the scene in Williamston, where he reported seeing downed power lines and trees, which caused damage to houses and even a nursing home, prompting an evacuation.
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Across Michigan there have been five deaths reported as a result of the storms, including the one fatality on I-96.
A mother and her two children were killed north of Grand Rapids Thursday night when a car hydroplaned in water on the road, according to authorities, and crashed into a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.
In Lansing, one person was killed when a tree fell onto a home.
Other hard-hit areas included Monroe County's Newport, where the Frenchtown Villa Trailer Park suffered a lot of damage, as well as in Plymouth and in Canton, where a couple of hundred homes were damaged.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Wayne and Monroe counties to help with response and recovery efforts to flooding and damage caused by severe storms and heavy rain.
“Communities across Michigan were hit hard by torrential downpours and damaging winds,” said Whitmer, in a statement. “This emergency declaration will ensure state resources are available as quickly as possible to help Michiganders in need. I want to thank all the first responders and emergency crews who hard through the night to save lives. We will recover and rebuild together.”
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