CALHOUN COUNTY, Mich. — Severe weather across Michigan last night brought high winds, rain, hail and multiple tornado reports.
In Calhoun County, a reported tornado caused damage to homes, barns, power lines and trees. The Calhoun County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) says there have been no reported injuries from the weather at this time.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of the county at 12:02 a.m.
CCSO says that they received visual reports of a tornado from a law enforcement officer and a spotter around 12:35 a.m.
First responders from CCSO, Michigan State Police and Marengo Township Firefighters were sent to the area of L Drive North and 19 Mile Road in Lee Township.
When they arrived, they found significant damage from the severe weather, including roads covered in debris.
The Calhoun County Road Department was dispatched and cleared roads in the area to allow additional first responders to look for injured people and storm damage.
CCSO says that they believe that the reported tornado moved northeast from 17 1/2 Mile Road towards 24 Mile Road in Marengo Township.
"Calhoun County Sheriff Steve Hinkley urges individuals to avoid the area to give Consumers Energy time to repair the damage. CCSO is unable to deploy drones at this time due to upper windspeed to assist with the assessment process. Assessment is ongoing with multiple local agencies," CCSO wrote in a message of Facebook.
CCSO warns that while many roads are now opening in the county, there are still power lines down along some roads and in some people's yards.
Consumers Energy asks the public to keep important safety tips in mind as they wait for their power to be restored:
- Be alert to crews working along the roads. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they safely can go past workers on roadsides.
- Call 2-1-1 if looking for help connecting to resources offering assistance in your community. 2-1-1 is a free statewide service.
- Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement, enclosed patio or near any air intakes. Doing so could cause a generator to produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. Read more guidance on safe generator use here.
- Consumers Energy will trim or remove trees interfering with electric restoration activities. Once safe to do so, clean-up of debris from tree trimming or removal during a storm emergency is the responsibility of individual property owners.
- In some cases, the mast that holds the electric service wires to a home or business may have been damaged or torn away. Crews will reconnect the wires to a home, but only a licensed electrician can repair or replace a mast or a cable.
To report an outage and check the status of outage, click here.
The National Weather Service is planning on surveying storm damage in Calhoun, Genesee and Van Buren counties.
CCSO's Emergency Management Division has created a form to self-report any property damage from the severe weather.
Calhoun County storm damage
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