Storms hit Midwest a day after tornado killed at least 1 in Oklahoma

Strong storms hit the Midwest on Tuesday, unleashing a barrage of heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes across the region, a day after a deadly tornado ripped through a small Oklahoma town and killed at least one person.

Tornadoes were observed after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while parts of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters warned that the storms could extend into the night with the possibility of more tornadoes and large hail.

In southwestern Michigan, two tornadoes hit the town of Portage, near Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office said there were “multiple downed trees and wires throughout” Portage and nearby Pavilion Township. A spokesperson for the city of Portage said in a statement that there was significant damage to homes and businesses, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries. A Kalamazoo County spokesperson told CBS News that between 15 and 20 people were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries.

Photos posted on social media showed extensive damage to a FedEx building in the Portage area.

In a statement to CBS News, a FedEx spokesperson confirmed that its facilities were damaged, but said there were “no serious injuries.”

“We continue to assess the damage and are implementing contingency plans to lessen any potential impact on service,” the statement read.

Portage Public Safety Director Nicholas Armold told CBS News that all FedEx employees were accounted for and none were trapped under the rubble of the building.

More than 20,000 people were without power in the Portage area, Consumers Energy said Tuesday night. The company estimated that most would be without power until 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Branch and Cass counties Tuesday night after the storm brought “large hail up to four inches in diameter and at least two confirmed tornadoes,” he said in a statement.

In total, on Monday night and early Tuesday, at least 22 tornadoes was reported by the National Weather Service in seven states in the Great Plains and central U.S. The severe weather threat was expected to continue Tuesday night into Wednesday, according to Alex Wilson, a meteorologist with The Weather Channel, who reported that Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky were at risk. .

The deadly tornado that struck Oklahoma Monday night devastated the city of Barnsdall, population 1,000, about a 40-minute drive north of Tulsa. The National Weather Service had warned Monday afternoon that “a large, potentially deadly tornado” was headed toward Barnsdall and the nearby town of Bartlesville.

It was the second tornado to hit Barnsdall in five weeks: a tornado on April 1 with maximum wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph damaged homes and downed trees and power poles.

Barnsdall Mayor Johnny Kelley said one person is dead and one man is missing after Monday’s tornado. Authorities launched a secondary search Tuesday morning for the missing man.

“The hardest thing for me as mayor is that this is a small community,” Kelley said. “I know between 75% and 80% of the people in this city.”

At least 30 to 40 homes in the Barnsdall area were damaged Monday night, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.

Aerial videos showed several well-built homes reduced to piles of rubble and others with roofs torn off and damaged walls still standing. The powerful tornado tossed vehicles, downed power lines and tore branches and bark from trees throughout the city. A 160-acre wax manufacturing facility in the community was also severely damaged.

First responders rescued about 25 people, including children, from heavily damaged homes where buildings had collapsed on or around them, Kelley said. About a half-dozen people suffered injuries, she said.

“We took a direct hit from a tornado” in Bartlesville, said Kary Fox of Washington County Emergency Management. “Please stay off the roads. Stay away from those damaged areas. We are having a very difficult time doing assessments and checking if people have any injuries due to traffic congestion.”

Barnsdall Nursing Home said it evacuated residents because a gas leak could not be shut off due to storm damage. He later posted online that all residents were uninjured and were being moved to other facilities.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who toured the tornado damage Tuesday, said weather researchers called it a violent tornado with winds up to 200 mph. Stitt said he and legislative leaders agreed to set aside $45 million in this year’s budget to help communities damaged by the storms.

“Oklahomans are resilient,” Stitt said, “and we are going to rebuild.”

At the Hampton Inn in Bartlesville, several splintered 2×4 vehicles were driven to the south side of the building. Bits of insulation, twisted metal and other debris were scattered across the hotel’s lawn, and vehicles in the parking lot were heavily damaged with broken windows.

Matthew Macedo, who was staying at the hotel, said he was taken to the hotel laundry room to wait out the storm.

“When the impact hit, it was incredibly sudden,” he said.

Storms hit Oklahoma while areas like Sulfur and Holdenville were still recovering from a Tornado that killed four people and left thousands without power late last month.. Both the Plains and the Midwest have been hit by tornadoes this spring.

Oklahoma and Kansas had been under a high-risk weather warning on Monday. The last time such a warning was issued was on March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system swept through parts of the South and Midwest, including Arkansas, Illinois and rural Indiana.

The entire week seems stormy across the United States. The eastern United States and the South are expected to be hardest hit by severe weather for the rest of the week, including in Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati, cities where more than 21 million people live. It should become clear over the weekend.

The Oklahoma State Emergency Operations Center, which coordinates storm response from a bunker near the state capital, Oklahoma City, was still activated following last weekend’s deadly storms.

Monte Tucker, a farmer and rancher from the western Oklahoma town of Sweetwater, had spent Monday storing some of his tractors and heavy equipment in barns to protect them from hail. He said he let his neighbors know they could come to his house if the weather turned dangerous.

“We built a house 10 years ago, and my stubborn wife put her foot down and made sure we built a safe room,” Tucker said. She said the entire ground floor room is built with reinforced concrete walls.

Oklahoma and Kansas were under a high-risk weather warning on Monday. Bill Bunting, deputy director of the Storm Prediction Center, said such a warning from the center is not something you see every day or every spring.

“It’s the highest threat level we can assign,” he said.

It last aired on March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system devastated parts of the South and Midwest, including Arkansas, Illinois, and rural Indiana.

The increased risk comes from an unusual confluence: On Monday, winds gusting up to about 75 mph hit Colorado’s populated Front Range region, including the Denver area.

The winds were being created by a low pressure system north of Colorado that was also carrying moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, fueling the risk of severe weather in the Plains, according to the National Weather Service’s Denver-area office.

Colorado was not at risk of tornadoes or thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, flooding in the Houston area began receding Monday after days of heavy rain in Southeast Texas left neighborhoods flooded and prompted hundreds of flood rescues.